Downfall
by Shadow's Forge
Summary: In an alternate universe, three traitors have set into motion a plot that will shake the world to its core. Captain Sosuke Aizen and the Thirteen Court Guard Squads stand against Hueco Mundo, awaiting an enemy with genocide as its goal.
1. Prologue: Breakaway

**_DOWNFALL_**

By

Gregory Wong

* * *

**_PROLOGUE: BREAKAWAY_**

In a universe parallel to the one we know, a young man named Ichigo Kurosaki has been given the power to aid souls into the afterlife and to purify the souls of the corrupt. The price is steep for these powers, however, as his new friend Rukia Kuchiki is awaiting execution for her crimes against the Soul Society.

In response, Ichigo and his friends set out to confront the Soul Society and its guardians, the Thirteen Court Guard Squads.

Moving in the shadows, three traitors have set into motion a plot centuries in the making, an action that will shake the Soul Society to its core.


	2. Chapter 1: Shift

**_DOWNFALL_**

By

Gregory Wong

* * *

**Chapter 1: Shift**

* * *

Nanao wondered where her captain could have gone off to. Bad enough that Captain Kyoraku was under suspicion for the murder of Captain Ukitake—mind-boggling as that sounded, since those two were known to be great friends—but the man was going to miss the execution. And yes, she'd checked the barracks. The captain wasn't asleep.

She shook her head. She felt bad for Rukia Kuchiki, she really did, but there was nothing they could do. Central Forty-Six had already decreed it.

Couldn't be helped. With a sigh, she slid the door to her personal quarters open. She had to be at least presentable before she left for Sokyoku hill. Since Captain Kyoraku was doing his own thing, it fell to her to represent Squad—huh?

She frowned and looked at her futon. There was a folded piece of paper on top of it, along with one of those pinwheel hairpins the captain always kept. Strange. Those hairpins were actually pretty expensive, and Captain Kyoraku was really—really, really—protective of them.

"Humph. He was in my room again, wasn't he?" she muttered to herself. There were times when her captain's skirt-chasing got a bit... annoying. Even when he did it to her. The captain was at least respectful when she said no, though.

Ah, well. To be perfectly honest, she was pretty sure the captain acted that way around woman because that was just his personality. Captain Kyoraku was probably as interested in seducing a female as she was in seducing someone like... Shuhei.

Uh, okay, bad example. Someone like _Marechiyo_. There you go.

Anyway. The point was that if she starting stripping off her clothes and begging handsome, handsome Shunsui to do naughty things to her, Captain Kyoraku would turn around, tell her he had important captain business to attend to, and, once she couldn't see him anymore, the man would run away screaming. The act of flirting was what her captain was after, not... the stuff came afterwards.

Ahem.

Smiling musingly, she unfolded the paper. Hmm. Addressed to her in Captain Kyoraku's surprisingly neat writing. Started off with an apologetic introduction... like usual. Afterwards she usually found some inane little poem extolling her glowing beauty, or her fabulous intellect, or a plea to take off her glasses.

No. _Never_ take off the glasses.

She grinned at that as she continued reading. Hmm. The note was... different somehow. Sure, it had the apologetic tone to it, but she sensed some genuine seriousness in her captain's words that she didn't see too often. She read more.

The note was asking her to... to...

Her eyes widened. The hairpin of Captain Shunsui Kyoraku slipped from her fingers as she clapped a hand to her mouth in shock.

* * *

"Bankai. _Tensa_ _Zangetsu_."

There was a nigh imperceptible flash of reflected sunlight as a black-clothed young man blurred forward, past the storm of razor sharp shards that glittered in the sunlight. As the flurry of blades swept past, the young man appeared, his black sword leveled at another man's throat.

Byakuya Kuchiki's eyes widened in shock. Ichigo Kurosaki's eyes met the Soul Reaper captain's in a harsh glare.

"You wanna talk about pride? Your so-called honor demands that you kill Rukia." Ichigo's eyes narrowed coldly, belying the hot anger that seethed in his heart. "Sure takes a lot of honor to kill your own sister, doesn't it? Well, if that's the kind of pride you're talking about, you can bet your ass I'm gonna mess with it."

* * *

"Momo, stay close," Sosuke Aizen said to his lieutenant, Momo Hinamori, as they approached the locked-down chamber of the Central Forty-Six.

"Yes, Captain," the girl replied. "Er, what are we doing here, Captain?"

"I'm not sure, really"

And to be perfectly honest, it was the truth. It had horrified him when he'd found one of his mentors, Jushiro Ukitake, Squad Twelve Captain and one of the strongest Soul Reapers in the Seireitei, nailed to a pillar with his own zanpakuto. And then his other mentor, Shunsui Kyoraku had begun to act suspiciously. During an... altercation with Lieutenant Kaien Shiba, Kyoraku had even suggested that he might have had a hand in Ukitake's murder. Shiba would have ended up dead if Captain Hitsugaya and Lieutenant Matsumoto hadn't intervened.

And Central's puzzling behavior. First the death sentence of Rukia Kuchiki for what should have been a non-capital offense, and then the lockdown and subsequent speeding up of the execution process. Something was nagging at him.

Ah, that was for later. Work to do.

He rapped his fist against the chamber door. Not only was it well-engineered, it was reinforced with reishi-absorbing/nullifying sekkiseki. Going to be tough. Hmm.

"Momo, I need you to move back a few yards and erect the strongest barrier you can manage," he said to his lieutenant. He heard a faint whooshing sound as Momo flash-stepped backwards a safe distance. He heard faint muttering as the lieutenant recited the incantation for a defensive spell.

"Bakudo number thirty-nine, _Enkosen_." He heard a faint cracking sound, and when he looked behind him a circle of glowing energy was covering the upper half of Momo's body. He nodded, and with a burst of gathered reishi flash-stepped to his lieutenant's side.

He channeled his spiritual energy into his hands.

Bones of beast, scattered far and wide...

"Hado sixty-three, _Raikoho_," he muttered, unleashing the pent-up energy as he finished his mental chant. A streak of golden lightning streaked out towards the door. Immediately after releasing it he moved behind the _Enkosen_ shield and helped Momo bolster it. The girl could probably have held it all by herself, but why not?

There was a thundering boom as his spell met the sekkiseki, and quite a bit of the hado spell was reflected and dispersed, splattering against their shield. The rest of it hit the door squarely.

The smoke cleared. Hmm, probably could have used a slightly lesser spell, since he's just shattered the door and about three feet of wall to either side to dust. In any case, they had access. There was a pop as Momo let the bakudo barrier dissipate.

"Let's go."

"Right behind you, Captain."

* * *

Kaien groaned and opened his eyes. A female Soul Reaper with the medical pack of a Squad Four member peered down at him.

"Lieutenant Shiba! How are you feeling?"

"Ugh."

"Lieutenant?"

Well, he felt like crap. Like what you would feel like after an elephant-sized Hollow mistook your body for a trampoline. It was like his body was one big ball of scrapes and bruises. And slashes. Captain Kyoraku hadn't pulled any punches at that one, and the Squad Eight captain was either the third or fourth most powerful man in the Seireitei, depending on who you asked. Luckily Captain Hitsugaya and Rangiku had shown up.

"Uh, Lieutenant? Do you need water? Can you hear me?"

"Ack."

"Uh..."

"Gah."

The woman looked flustered. Great. He was going to give the medical staff a heart attack. He closed his eyes and willed the pain to go away. Or something. Still hurt like hell, but he could focus on not panicking the woman.

"I'm good, I'm good," he said, and coughed. Said cough sent spikes into his brain, but he tried to ignore it.

Hmm. Something was odd. He noticed that the hospital area seemed understaffed. "What's going on?" he asked.

"The execution of Rukia Kuchiki has been moved up to today, and we're getting reports that there's infighting among the various divisions. Everything is a mess, sir. Thankfully—"

Rukia? Today? His blood went cold. Had to do something.

He tried to struggle out of bed, but the room suddenly turned upside down and he fell back down—up? Argh—to the cot.

"Lieutenant Shiba," he heard a new voice say. He turned to the left and squinted. Yasochika Iemura, Squad Four, Third Seat. "You didn't let Machiko finish her sentence. One of the ryoka infiltrators managed to block the Sokyoku and prevent her execution."

Oh, thank God.

"On top of that, Lieutenant, you've taken a beating and lost way too much blood. Contusions and slash wounds all over your body, and bruises everywhere _else_. You try getting up again and you're going to open up every wound we've managed to stitch shut with kido."

"Fine," he said. Defeated by wounds, dammit. He had to get to Rukia. Besides his siblings, the young woman was all that he had left. Miyako was gone. Ukitake gone.

Hopefully this Ichigo Kurosaki person Rukia had mentioned would be able to do something.

Hopefully.

* * *

Gin Ichimaru fanned his hand over Kaname Tosen's face. The dark skinned man groaned and slowly sat up.

"How long was I out?" the Squad Nine captain asked him without preamble.

"Well, about half an hour. Impressive, considering Zaraki had just punted you around like a soccer ball. Well, except you don't _stab_ a soccer ball, but you know what I mean."

"Yes, yes," the other captain said woozily. "Where's Sajin?"

"After that ryoka kid blocked—and _destroyed_, believed it or not—the Sokyoku, the Head Captain made it his business to incinerate that little upstart. I, uh, tried to stab Yamamoto in the foot. Yamamoto took offense to that and released his sword. Apparently, after that happened Sajin moved you a safe distance from Zaraki and came to help out—"

"You tried to _what_!"

"Yeah. So, I suppose it'd be a good time to go, don't you think? You know, before an angry old man figures out where I went and torches a rather large portion of real estate."

"_Why_ would you—"

"You remember what Aizen said, don't you? Things aren't adding up, and he told us to make sure that ryoka kid didn't get turned into a charred statue."

"I remember what he said. Help me up. And please stop smiling."

"You're blind. You can't see me smiling."

"Gin, you're _always_ smiling."

He grinned wider. He did like to smile. Maybe it was his default facial expression. For some reason it threw people off guard, which wasn't a problem at all. One time he squinted his eyes nearly shut and walked around for a day. He'd made people really uncomfortable with that, which was even better.

Of course, Rangiku had taken one look at his squinty-eyed self and walloped him across the face. So that had been the end of that.

He felt a hot, stifling breeze wash over him. Uh-oh. Yamamoto's spiritual pressure.

"Time to go," he said, heaving Kaname up. He focused reishi around his body and flash-stepped away.

* * *

"This is bad," Momo heard her captain say tightly.

She swallowed. "Bad" didn't really cover it. Every single member of Central Forty-Six was lying slumped over their benches in pools of their own blood.

_Dried_ pools of blood. They'd been dead for some time. Which meant that a lot of orders that had been coming from the Central Forty-Six... hadn't.

She swallowed again and moved her hand towards _Tobiume_'s hilt. If whoever had done this was still lurking around, she was going to defend her captain.

She watched Captain Aizen stand up from where he had been kneeling. "I'm trying to detect the reishi of the person who did this, but I'm not coming up with anything."

"They had to be good at hiding their presence then, Captain," she replied. "But that doesn't make sense, right? This place was sealed off, so why would they go through the trouble of masking themselves?"

"You have a point there, Lieutenant."

They examined more the council chamber. She couldn't detect anything either. Maybe Captain Aizen could—

"Sosuke," she heard a voice say from somewhere. She jumped and almost drew out her zanpakuto. That voice... she recognized that voice!

"That's impossible," she heard her captain gasp. "You were—"

"You'd be surprised what a good corpse doll can do," the voice cut off her captain. She say a figure step out of the shadows. Captain Ukitake!

She noticed Captain Aizen's hand had dropped to the hilt of _Kyoka Suigetsu_. "Explain. Everything."

She saw the other captain's lips arch up into a smile. It looked perfectly genuine. Considering it was Ukitake, it probably was.

"If you were anyone else, I wouldn't. I'd have killed you the moment you entered the chamber."

Her captain cocked his head. "And why would that be?"

"Because I have hope that you'll join us."

"Us?"

"_Who_ is not important right now."

She stepped up next to Captain Aizen. She could almost see the gears turning behind the captain's eyes. The light from the torches illuminating place reflected off Captain Aizen's glasses and swept-back hair.

"Then what is it you hope to convince me of?"

"The Seireitei must be destroyed."

The breath caught in her throat. Captain Ukitake wanted to _what_? Captain Ukitake, one of the oldest captains of the Thirteen Court Guard Squads?

"Why?" she heard her captain say sharply.

"Unless the Seireitei falls, the entire Soul Society will be wiped out."


	3. Chapter 2: Clash

**_DOWNFALL_**

By

Gregory Wong

* * *

**Chapter 2: Clash**

* * *

Sosuke cocked his head at his mentor. "And how, exactly, does that make sense, Captain Ukitake? The Seireitei is what _protects_ the Soul Society."

He watched the older captain shake his head. "And that's exactly why, Sosuke. Tell me, exactly _what_ does the Seireitei protect against."

He took a quick glance to the side. Momo was standing at his side, hand on her sword. He could tell she was more tense than he had ever seen her, even more than when he and Gin had saved her and her friends from the powerful Hollows those years back. Yet he could see Momo was going to take cues from him. Good girl.

He looked Ukitake in the eyes. "I guess I could give many examples, but the most obvious answer would be Hollows."

"Exactly," he heard Ukitake affirm. "Hollows. How strong do you consider the Hollow race to be as a whole?"

"Not nearly strong enough to threaten the Soul Society while the Seireitei stands against them," he said, putting emphasis on the last part.

He watched his mentor shake his head. "And that's where you are wrong, Sosuke. The Hollows have always outnumbered us Soul Reapers, and when you admit it, the average Hollow can kill the average Soul Reaper. And we don't even take into account the Menos-class, or the Arrancar.

Arrancar? "The Arrancar are myths."

"Trust me, they're not. They exist. The Adjuchas, the Vasto Lorde... they all exist. And they're banding together. They're already straining against the boundaries of Hueco Mundo."

"What makes you think that?" He asked. He had an idea about where this was going, and he was going to reject the proposal that Ukitake was going to offer to him. He had to keep the other captain talking on the off-chance someone else would chance upon the broken door to the Central Forty-Six.

He was one of the stronger captains, sure—both Ukitake and Kyoraku kept telling him they, Unohana, and Yamamoto were the only ones more powerful than him—but he had Momo with him. If this was going to get ugly, he had to make sure his lieutenant got out of the way.

The frightening thing was that Ukitake's crafty mind had probably come to the same conclusion and was stalling _him_ until the other parts of "us" came back.

He was starting to see his mentor—probably going to be _former_ mentor—in a different light.

"Not too long ago a Menos Grande attempted to enter the World of the Living, something that hasn't happened in millennia. And in the last year the number of incursions of Hollows into both the Soul Society and the World of the Living has been higher than any ten years in the last five hundred."

"Which means, what, exactly? If anything, it means that we need the Thirteen Court Guard Squads more than ever."

"What it means is that if we continue to antagonize the Hollows we will push them past their tolerances and force them to spread. And there are only two places where they can go."

Maybe he hadn't figured out where this was going. "Hollows are kept in check as long as we purify them."

He watched Ukitake shake his head again. "Yet that works only on an individual basis. When a Hollow first forms, it rapidly gathers whatever spiritual energy is in the immediate area to craft its new form. When we purify a Hollow the cleansed Whole moves to Soul Society. The _power_ that the Hollow had gathered to itself, well, that goes straight to Hueco Mundo.

"And with all that saturation, the Hollows are growing stronger and more ravenous. They consume each other until Gillians are a common sight and Adjuchas roam the desert sands."

"And the answer is to destroy the Soul Reapers?" he said incredulously. But, dammit, he knew the response already.

"We can try diplomacy, and attempt to keep them in check by other means... but we can't. There is no way to eliminate a Hollow without agitating Hueco Mundo, and you and I know that diplomacy isn't even going to be considered.

And that it was. If nothing else, Head Captain Yamamoto was... traditional.

"So your answer is to somehow kill every Soul Reaper?"

"When I became a Soul Reaper, I was sworn to protect the Soul Society, Sosuke." He saw a faint hint of sadness cross the older man's face. "And if I have to kill every Soul Reaper to make sure it stays safe, so be it."

He didn't say anything to dead. Think, dammit, think. He was in a precarious situation here, with a allegedly dead man revealing what was nothing other than high treason.

The troubling part was that Ukitake's words and motives almost made sense, in a cold, ruthless way.

Almost.

"And after the Seireitei is gone and all us Soul Reapers slaughtered, what stops the Hollows from attacking?"

"We who remain to keep the Hollows in check. They bow to any power greater than themselves."

He peered up at his mentor, seeing him in a new light. He could see it. Ukitake's motives _were_ for the good of the Soul Society, and it even made sense. But then he knew that Ukitake also wanted the power to control the Hueco Mundo.

Damn it all. His fingers twitched on _Kyoka Suigetsu_.

"You said you would have killed anyone else who entered. Why not me as well?"

"Because we're asking you to join us, Sosuke," a new voice said. He shifted his gaze, and saw Captain Kyoraku melt out of the darkness. Two of them now.

"Just me?" he asked, making a gesture to the lieutenant by his side. Momo jerked and turned to face him, eyes wide. He hadn't wanted to do that, but he had to keep them talking.

"Of course not," Ukitake answered. "I, for one, know Lieutenant Hinamori would be at your back even if you said you wanted to kill the Soul King, or destroy the world, or become God himself." He met Momo's eyes, and the girl looked away quickly. "I also know Captains Tosen and Ichimaru are practically more loyal to you than they are to Captain Yamamoto. I trust your judgment in who we bring into this, Sosuke."

He was going to say something, maybe keep the two traitorous captains talking, when he felt something tug on the sleeve of his haori. Momo?

"Captain, I'll follow you wherever you lead," his lieutenant said to him slowly. "No matter the consequences."

He let out a breath. Momo, at least, wasn't going to betray him.

Without a word he turned to face Ukitake and Kyoraku, drawing _Kyoka Suigetsu_ from its sheath. A moment later he heard Momo draw her _Tobiume_.

"I refuse," he said.

* * *

Gin felt a faint tinge of spiritual pressure wash over him. It wasn't the old man's. Not scorching enough for that. It had almost felt like Captain Aizen's, but muffled and distorted. Said distortion was usually caused by heavy sekkiseki concentrations.

"You felt that, right?" he asked Kaname.

"Of course. And I think I am strong enough to walk on my own now. Thank you."

"Ah, don't mention it. Anything for a friend and all."

"Gin, just stop, please."

"I have this inkling that I'm not appreciated."

"You said it, not I."

He gave an exaggerated sigh. Kaname didn't seem to notice. Bah. Well, in any case, that splash of spiritual energy had come from the west. And if it was coming from where he thought it was coming from—the Central Forty-Six Chambers—things weren't looking very good. The place was supposed to be locked down, and if Aizen's spiritual signature was coming from inside...

He felt reishi like a hot gale blow into him. He grimaced. "It's just not right that an old bald man can move that quickly." He heard a faint whoosh. "To top it off—"

Huh? He was alone. Kaname has flash-stepped away towards the source of the original spiritual energy.

He sighed. "That guy is much too serious."

He moved to follow the other captain.

* * *

Momo tried to keep her knees from trembling. She was sure Captain Aizen would be fighting at his hardest, but this was Captains Kyoraku and Ukitake they were talking about. Unless help showed up _right now_ it did not look good.

Still, her place was at the captain's side.

"I'd say I was disappointed in you, Sosuke," she heard Kyoraku say. "But that would be a lie. I'm not. It's good to see that you stand up for your beliefs."

Her captain was silent.

"It does sadden me that you have to die, Sosuke." That from Ukitake. Adrenaline surged through her veins. She saw Captain Aizen tense up.

"Snap, _Tobiume_!" she cried, and let her spiritual energy flow into her blade. streamers of red light split off from the sword and solidified into three prongs of steel. She let more of her energy flow into the blade, and at the tip of _Tobiume_ a swirling ball of fire burst to life.

"Shatter, _Kyo_—Yah!"

Almost too fast she saw Kyoraku lock blades with Captain Aizen. The older captain's blades were in their shikai form. No! With a yell she hurled the ball of pent-up reishi at the tip of _Tobiume_ at Kyoraku.

There was a blur, and Ukitake was suddenly between her and Kyoraku. One blade of the released _Sogyo no Kotowari_ pierced the fireball and seemed to suck it up. What had—

And then suddenly a ball of flame, larger and burning brighter than hers had been was going straight for her face. She had to move! Block! She brought her zanpakuto up to a guard position. It was going to—!

* * *

"Damn it," Sosuke snarled. He took one hand from _Kyoka Suigetsu_'s hilt and leveled it at Momo. He hurriedly sent out reishi through his body. "Bakudo eighty-one! _Danku_!"

A semi-transparent wall of energy snapped into existence in front of his lieutenant and dispersed the reflected attack. He'd been luck—

He gasped as Kyoraku's _Katen Kyokotsu_ bit into his side. Gah. With a grunt he moved his free hand towards the traitorous captain's face. "_Shakkaho_!"

There was a ripple, like heat rising off pavement, right before the hado spell exploded in Kyoraku's face. He felt himself flying backwards from the blast. Bastard. Kyoraku had let his spiritual pressure burst out and dampen the impact of the fireball. He, on the other hand, had had it explode full force a foot from his face.

And now the room was spinning. Had to get up. Get up. Momo was no match for either one of them, let alone both. Coughing, he let his reishi flow into his zanpakuto. He focused on it, on its powers, and what he wanted those powers to do.

Shatter, _Kyoka Suigetsu_.

His sword burst into a thousand pieces, each shard flashing bright light everywhere... and when that light cleared, his sword was again whole.

He projected an image of himself lurching from the floor, moving to strike Ukitake. Instinctively the white-haired captain slashed at the illusion, breaking it into pieces of light. Should have released from the beginning.

Then again, he'd tried to. The problem with an unspoken release was that it required more reishi and concentration to perform, and he'd been a bit too busy trying to predict the other captains' next move. He'd opted for an easier, but lengthier, verbal release. He'd have preferred his final release, but the outpouring of spiritual energy that accompanied a bankai would be harmful in the confines of a room made of reinforced sekkiseki.

Ah. In any case, they were under his hypnosis.

"Let's try that again," he said to them.

* * *

Ah. Ah.

Momo staggered back as Kyoraku slammed her zanpakuto to the side. The momentum spun her around. She was open! Had to move!

But nothing. She managed to spin back around, and saw the older man cutting away at empty air. Huh? Wait. Captain Aizen's shikai!

"Well, this won't do," she heard Kyoraku mutter.

She forced energy into _Tobiume_. "Yah!" cried and sent a streamers of fire, crackling like lightning, at Ukitake. The man was too busy defending against a hypnotic image to get _Sogyo no Kotowari_ up in time, and the bolt of lightning-reishi struck Ukitake full in the back. Yes! Maybe they had a chance to—

Suddenly she saw shadows ripple in front of her.

* * *

Sosuke saw the opening. Had to take it, now.

Quietly as his injured body could manage—it hurt, damn it all—he charged towards Kyoraku, aiming for the man's heart while he distracted the traitor with an illusion.

With no warning he saw Kyoraku sweep off the gaudy pink haori he always wore and toss it into the air above him, covering the man in shadow. What?

Ah. No time to think about that. Had to hope he could run Kyoraku through before whatever the other captain was doing could—

And then he was enveloped in darkness. Where had this come—

And suddenly as it had appeared, the darkness faded, and he found himself in another part of the room... and Momo in front of him instead of Kyoraku. No! He had to stop...

But he couldn't. Momentum was too great.

There was a meaty _thunk_ as his zanpakuto rammed home. Horrified, he stared at his lieutenant, _Kyoka Suigetsu_ lodged in her chest. Her eyes were wide with shock and whatever she was trying to say was lost in a gurgle.

No.

With cry he whirled on Kyoraku. He used his rage to focus his reishi and leveled his hands at the older captain.

"_Hiryugekizokushintenraiho_!"

A massive pillar of crackling blue energy rushed towards Kyoraku. He'd poured more reishi than ever before into this attack, and by God, he was going to wipe his former mentor right off the face of the—

But older Soul Reaper seemed to be melting into the shadows, sinking into the ground and away from his attack.

Which revealed Ukitake directly behind the teleporting captain, _Sogyo no Kotowari_ leveled straight at his kido attack. _Hiryugekizokushintenraiho_ seemed to pour into the blade of the zanpakuto, and the rope and charms that bound the two blades together glowed red-hot. Ukitake jabbed the other blade of _Sogyo no Kotowari_ at him.

And then there was nothing but bright white.


	4. Chapter 3: Fall

_**DOWNFALL**_

By

Gregory Wong

* * *

**Chapter 3: Fall**

* * *

"What was that?" Rangiku heard her younger captain ask her.

"Don't ask me. You're the captain."

Captain Hitsugaya grumbled something angry-sounding and incomprehensible but didn't reply.

They had looked through the Squad Thirteen barracks because Captain Hitsugaya kept insisting that something "wasn't feeling right." And then they'd headed off towards Squad Eight's because of the same thing. There had been some traces of Nanao Ise having been there, but other than that, nothing.

But now that... _really_ strong blast of spiritual pressure from the direction of Central Forty Six. Pretty sure there wasn't anything in the barracks run by a guy who wore a pink robe all the time. Same couldn't be said about Central.

"Rangiku, I think we're changing our destination."

"Yes, Captain. You lead on."

* * *

"You go first," Gin told Kaname as they came up to the blasted-open door of Central Forty-Six.

"Why should I go in first?"

"Well," he said with a shrug, "it's dark in there, and since you're blind it should be like the same thing."

"Gin, it's not—"

"I _know_ it's not the same thing. My goodness. Would it kill you to humor me for once?"

"It would," he heard Kaname say in a perfect deadpan.

"Well, you're no fun," he said with a sigh. He was detecting a _lot_ of reishi coming from inside the place, both the residue from refined usages like kido and the raw force of spiritual pressure. The sheer force of it was... disconcerting. He stepped through the entrance, Kaname right behind him.

As he walked down the steps he caught glimpses of dead sages littering the place. Looked like they were dead for a quite a while, which has depressing implications. Kaname was also "looking" around in that weird Kaname Tosen way, and he was sure the blind man was sensing things he couldn't see with his own eyes.

But it didn't take any special senses to tell that something bad was waiting at the bottom of the chamber. He slid _Shinso_ out of its sheath, and he heard a metallic rasp as Kaname drew _Suzumushi_. He carefully hid his wakizashi under his haori, which was a bit more difficult than he thought it would be. He really should get one with sleeves.

They continued their way down, and he felt the reishi concentration get stronger with each step. Whatever had gone on here had been serious business. To make matters worse he was sure he was feeling the very faint spiritual energy of Captain Aizen and that cute little lieutenant who always tagged along.

He saw something move in the shadows. Eh?

"Ukitake," he heard Kaname say.

"Kaname, you do know that he's—"

"Alive, thank you very much," a voice cut him off.

He kept the surprise from showing on his face. "You sound remarkably healthy for a man who spent a couple of hours fastened to a wall with his own zanpakuto."

"The wonders of corpse dolls and friends in high places," another voice said. Kyoraku? Uh oh.

He angled his head to the captain behind him. "Kaname," he whispered, "follow."

"Lead," was the reply.

He sheathed himself in reishi and used it flash-step the rest of the way down, to the floor. A whooshing sound behind told him Kaname was right behind _what the hell_?

Against one of the walls was the battered body of Captain Aizen, bleeding and scorched in spots, and not too far off was the still form of Momo Hinamori, with what looked like _Kyoka Suigetsu_ sticking out of her chest.

He had to fight to keep his jaw from dropping. Okay, this wasn't good at all. Had to work with what he had, though. He plastered his usual smile on his face. "Oh," he said flippantly, "and here I thought that Aizen actually liked that lieutenant of his."

Attack or flee? Ukitake and Kyoraku had the clear advantage over himself and Kaname in a fight. That said, the only way out was the way they had come and the other two Soul Reapers should be easily able to intercept them.

Looks like the third option was to make as much noise as possible and hope they didn't have nasty things done to them before someone came to check the situation. Something Kyoraku had said, though, was nagging at him. Couldn't put his finger on it though.

"Maybe Aizen just got tired of that bun she always put her hair in," he continued, slowly angling _Shinso_ so that it was pointing at where he hoped Kyoraku was. He concentrated on his zanpakuto and its release, not an easy feat since he was, you know, trying to talk at the same time."While it certainly does look quite fetching, I have to wonder why he'd stick the sword into her chest and not simply just cut off the—"

Shoot to kill, _Shinso_.

The blade of his zanpakuto burst out from under his robe, shredding a portion of it before continuing on towards a vaguely Kyoraku-shaped figured in the shadows. Out of the corner of his eye he saw a score of blades from _Suzumushi_'s _Benihiko_ form lash out in another direction, probably at Ukitake.

Well, no turning back now.

* * *

"I think I'm sensing Gin's spiritual energy," Rangiku told her captain.

"I sensed it, too." She heard Captain Hitsugaya sniff. "And you should refer to him as Captain Ichimaru."

"I do call him Captain Ichimaru, but only on those nights when he insists on wearing a gold bandana on his head and tells me to call myself Sizuka the Miko Maiden.

They were staring at the shattered door of Central Forty-Six, which was blown to smithereens and wasn't very locked down at all. And that door was reinforced, so it would take quite a bit of force to do that.

"_What_?"

"It was a joke. We really don't do that. Well, haven't done it. In a while. Ahem."

She heard the younger Soul Reaper grumble something as they moved inside.

To tell the truth, though, she normally would say something like that, but she was trying to distract herself from her worrying. Gin was inside there with whatever had done this to the door... and that worried her.

They made their way down the stairs. Well, something was certainly wrong with this place. The Central Forty-Six weren't supposed to be dead, for one thing. Second, there shouldn't be the sound of battle from the bottom level of the chamber.

Feeling her heart beat faster, she drew _Haineko_ from its sheath and ran after Captain Hitsugaya, _Hyorinmaru_ in hand, downwards. Had to hurry. Whatever was happening sounded—

"_Oof_!" she gasped as something slammed into her, hard. What... Gin?

She shook her head to clear her vision of the dancing stars and birdies. "Gin! Are you all right? What's going—"

"Rangiku, _move_!" Gin bawled, shoving her back. Ungh. Damn. The man hadn't answered—

She watched in horror as some kind of hado spell—it was a violet fireball of some kind—slammed into her lover and exploded.

_Gin_!" Even with her aching back, she rushed to the silver-haired captain and fell to her knees beside him. Okay, okay. Still alive. Worse for wear, and barely conscious, but alive. Out of the corner of her eye she saw her captain leap off the stairs, zanpakuto held high.

"Reign over the frosted heavens, _Hyorinmaru_!"

* * *

Toshiro normally didn't like doing things like this, unplanned and without proper knowledge of what he was going up against. But in this case, going up against an opponent he didn't know and looked strong enough to seriously hurt a full captain, he had to react first and hope his counterattack would throw them off.

A dragon of ice burst from his sword and weaved its way towards a figure that seemed to be stepping in and out of the shadows. Screeching, the ice elemental slammed into the place the person had been standing and covered a good portion of the immediate area in a crust of ice. One opponent down, hopefully.

He continued his descent and hit the ground in a crouch. Had to evaluate, quickly. To his right, Tosen. Looked seriously injured. Ahead, what looked like Aizen, also hurt badly. Beyond the Squad Five Captain was... was...

His heart froze.

Momo. Momo, with a zanpakuto shoved clean through her. He forgot everything and just stood there, starting at his childhood friend as she lay bleeding on the floor.

His vision turned red, red despite the fact the room was beginning to glint blue from all the ice unleashed from his wildly leaking spiritual pressure. His hands were locked so hard on the hilt of _Hyorinmaru_ that they shook. End them. He was going to find the people who did this to Momo and he was going to _end them_.

There was the sound of rushing air, and two people appeared in front of him in a haze of reishi. Shunsui Kyoraku and Jushiro Ukitake. They had done it.

Shaking with rage, he sent his rampant energy towards his blade. "Bankai! _Daiguren Hyorinmaru_!" he cried, summoning the strongest form of his zanpakuto's power. Ice closed over his body, armoring his right hand and legs, and wings of frost sprouted from his shoulders. He started to step forward.

Huh? He heard the sound of another flash step, and a third figure appeared behind the two traitorous Soul Reapers. His eyes widened. Captain Unohana?

Kyoraku and Ukitake jerked and took a step away from the female captain. He saw that the Squad Four captain's eyes were cold as they looked over the two treacherous captains.

What now?

* * *

Hurt. Hurt bad. Really bad.

Sosuke groaned and tried to open his eyes. Every part of his body hurt. Whatever had hit him hadn't held back. Wait. What had happened again? His head was spinning so badly that he couldn't remember who had managed to turn his body into one big mass of pain. He remembered going to Central Forty-Six, and meeting someone. Who—

_Momo_.

His eyes flew open. In front of him, a few dozen feet away, Momo's unblinking eyes stared back at him. Those bastards.

He rolled himself onto his side and tried his best to look around the room. He got an eyeful of an odd tableau involving Captain Hitsugaya, Kyoraku, and Ukitake. Kaname was in the corner, slumped against a wall. And he swore he could see Gin and someone that could be Lieutenant Matsumoto higher up on the stairs. With another groan he rolled onto his stomach and levered himself up to his hands and knees. Damn it, it hurt.

He looked back at his two mentors and noticed someone else. He blinked. He couldn't quite make out the face, his vision was so damned blurry. Blinked some more. That seemed to help. He could barely make the face of the other figure.

He breathed a sigh of relief. It was Unohana, the only other captain besides Yamamoto who was more powerful than the two traitors. If the Squad Four captain was able to drive them off with his and Captain Hitsugaya's help, the woman might be able to heal his lieutenant.

Heal...

His blood froze.

Captain Retsu Unohana had done the examination of Ukitake's body—or, in reality, the corpse doll. Unohana was one of the oldest captains in the existence of the Thirteen Court Guard Squads, and _the_ authority on all things medical. The female captain would be more likely to accidentally kill herself with a pair of chopsticks than mistake a corpse doll for a real body.

Which could only mean that Unohana wasn't here to apprehend Kyoraku and Ukitake.

"By the look on his face, I think we can assume Captain Aizen has put the pieces together," he heard Unohana say quietly.

He shifted his gaze back to Hitsugaya. Looked like the young captain hadn't quite grasped it yet. Hell. He focused his reishi into his arms and prepared a hado attack. Didn't have enough strength for a high-ranked kido, but if he could hit just right, he could distract them long enough to retrieve his zanpakuto. Yanking it from Momo's chest would cause even more grievous injury, but they were _dead_ unless he could get his shikai back into play.

He pushed himself off the ground and leveled a finger at Unohana. "Hado four, _Byakurai_!" As soon as the bolt of lightning arced from his fingers, he flash-stepped towards his fallen lieutenant. He had to—

* * *

Now Toshiro understood, just as he saw Aizen level a finger. Unohana wasn't here to take the two senior captains into custody... she was here to join them.

Damn it all. Again, he had no time to think or plan. With a roar, he charged forward, _Daiguren Hyorinmaru_ raised to strike.

He could—

* * *

Gin couldn't believe it. He hadn't even seen Unohana move from that location.

But how else could you explain when both Aizen and Hitsugaya practically explode into welters of blood? Or that slight ripple in the air around Unohana that betrayed a highly skilled flash-step? Or the barely perceptible motion of Unohana sheathing her zanpakuto.

Whatever the case, Captains Hitsugaya and Aizen were down, which gave him the depressing though that he and Rankgiku were next.

"Give it everything you have," he said quickly, gathering his thoughts and reaching out to the power within his zanpakuto. Kind of tough, since that _Haien_ hado from Kyoraku had snapped a couple of ribs. The pain was a touch distracting.

Plus he was thinking that throwing out a bankai in the Central Forty-Six Chamber would be dangerous as exploding buckets of firecrackers in a small closet, but he could probably survive refracted and reflected reishi. He wouldn't survive _Minazuki_ shoved through his face. Plus he had to worry about Rangiku.

"Bankai," he muttered, concentrating hard. "_Kamishini no Yari_."

His zanpakuto exploded out, closing the distance with the three traitors. The increased range his bankai granted him—thirteen kilometers, give or take a few meters—was going to be superfluous in the relatively close quarters, but the near-instantaneous speed it had behind its projection as opposed to its shikai would at least rock them back on their heels for a bit.

Or... Ukitake could jump in front of it and intercept the speeding blade with one of _Sogyo no Kotawari_'s dual blades. He watched the charms glow... and then the white-haired captain flicked the other blade into _Kamashini no Yari_.

Aah! That little touch had slammed his bankai-charged blade all the way up into the ceiling. Ukitake hadn't hit it that hard! What kind of tricks were those guys running now? Maybe _Sogyo no Kotowari_ was able to absorb and redirect kinetic energy, too? If so, that wasn't very sporting. Ukitake had never mentioned _that_ ability before.

He was trying to yank his zanpakuto out of the roof when he saw some large silvery rings floating lazily in the air around the room. Ah. Looks like Kaname also had decided that unleashing a bankai was less dangerous than having _Minazuki_—and _Koten Kyokotsu_ and _Sogyo no Kotowari_—lodged in their bodies.

A pitch black void spread out within the rings and engulfed the three other captains. _Suzumushi Tsuishiki Enma Korogi_ should be able to keep those three confined until they thought of something to—

"Black," he heard the voice of Kyoraku say from inside the sensory damping field right before Kaname's bankai exploded into splinters of shadow. Without that big mass of blackness there, he could see Kyoraku withdrawing _Koten Kyokotsu_ from the ground, as if the older captain had just stabbed the floor.

Oh, come on. Even more unfair. Kyoraku had used that color-calling game on a bankai. Not fair at all.

Beside him he heard Rangiku move her body. "Growl, _Haineko_!"

There was a scattering of metallic ash which swirled towards the three captains, only to be blown away as Kyoraku made a wide sweeping motion that blew the dust away in an explosive gale. How many abilities did that ridiculous zanpakuto have!

Eh. Did it matter? There wasn't a snowball's chance in Yamamoto's shikai that they were getting away from this. The best he and Kaname could do was to keep on tossing everything they had at the trio while he kicked Rangiku towards the door and hope she got a warning to the rest of the Seireitei.

There. Finally managed to get _Kamishini no Yari_ unstuck, but the damned chamber was sucking the reishi he'd released with his bankai dry. The blade came slithering back to its wakizashi form. Even before it had completely shrunk he was aiming it again at three treacherous captains.

"Shoot to kill, _Shinso_!" he snapped, and his blade shot forward. He heard whistling, and he barely caught a glimpse of Kaname slinging more _Suzumushi Benihiko_ blades.

He barely saw it because he was too busy looking at Unohana and how the woman was just staring at the attacks coming at her. And immediately after that it got harder to breathe as Unohana, and then Kyoraku and Ukitake, released a massive amount of spiritual pressure, blocking his and Kaname's shikai skills through sheer force of will.

They were going to die. Any second now and Unohana would—

"We do not have the time for this," Unohana said. "We must retrieve the Hogyoku before Head Captain Yamamoto perceives what is happening."

"Agreed," he heard Ukitake reply. "Shunsui?"

"Let's go." He saw Kyoraku look back at the still form of Captain Aizen. "And forgive us, Sosuke."

And then the three of them were gone, swallowed up by shadows.

Well, that was an interesting turn of events.

"Rangiku," he said to his lover. "Relay a message to everyone you can reach. Kaname and I will try to stabilize the wounded."


	5. Part I: Consolidation

**_DOWNFALL_**

By

Gregory Wong

* * *

**_PART I: CONSOLIDATION_**


	6. Chapter 4: Aftermath

**_DOWNFALL_**

By

Gregory Wong

* * *

**Chapter 4: Aftermath**

* * *

Renji knocked on the doorframe. He heard the talking on the other side of the door before the sounds of footsteps padding towards him.

The door slid open, and a petite, attractive young woman peeked out. The regal-looking woman was short, barely reaching his chin, with fair skin and well-groomed, short black hair that had an incongruously messy strand hanging on front of her face.

"Ah, Renji, how are you today?" the woman said to him warmly.

"I'm doing good, Lady Kuchiki," he replied, adding a small but polite bow.

The woman chuckled. "Renji, Renji, how many times have I told you that you do not need to use honorifics to address me? My first name is fine."

He shrugged. "Eventually I'll remember. Old habits and all that." He cleared his throat. "Uh, how is Captain Kuchiki doing?" he asked.

"My husband is doing quite well, thank you," Hisana Kuchiki answered him. "I was just going to go make some tea for him, actually, so you two can talk."

Oh. "Ah. That would be just fine." He stepped out of the way so his captain's wife could slip past. With a nod he entered Captain Kuchiki's room.

The Squad Six captain was sitting up in bed, propped up by pillows, wrapped in a light robe. He could still see that Captain Kuchiki had several tightly-bound bandages over quite a few parts of his body. He'd given his captain a couple of those wounds.

Yeah. About that.

He moved to the bedside and sat down on a nearby chair. "Captain Kuchiki," he said formally.

"Lieutenant Abarai," the older Soul Reaper replied.

Silence. Really awkward. Eh. Well, he just had to man up and spit out what he was here to talk with Captain Kuchiki—

"Hisana knows we have dozens of servants in the house, yet she still insists on making and bringing me the tea personally."

"Stirring in extra love," he said.

"Hmm?"

"Eh. Just saying that Lady Hisana does it despite the army of servants because she cares for you."

"I know that, Lieutenant. I just tend to muse about my wife every once and a while. Rukia sometimes tells me to stop doing it so much."

Well, looked like the time to quit the small talk and get to the things he wanted to speak with Captain Kuchiki about.

"About Rukia, sir, and, well... everything."

The captain cocked his head, looking at him intently. "What do you mean, Renji?"

"Captain, I... when..." Oh, dammit. He took a deep breath. "Captain, I _attacked_ you. And I didn't just, you know, wave my sword at you or anything. I went full-out against you! Bankai, the best kido I would muster up, everything."

"And?"

He was expecting an angry response, or at least a hostile one. Not... that. "Captain when we were fighting, I was fully prepared to..." His voice trailed off. He couldn't say it. Hell.

"Kill me?"

He nodded mutely.

"You'd kill me so I wouldn't bring back Rukia to be executed, or so that I couldn't kill her myself."

Nod.

"And that's exactly why I'm not angry at you, Lieutenant."

"Captain, I will apologize, but I can't..." The words registered. Huh? "Wait, what?"

"Three things. First, at the risk of sounding incredibly arrogant and having Hisana giving me an earful about doing that, I was in no real danger from you, bankai or not."

"I know," he said softly. It had been a rout from—

"Don't belittle yourself, Renji." He saw the other Soul Reaper motion to a patch of bandages on his shoulder, where _Hihio Zabimaru_ had managed to score a shallow wound with one of its teeth. "I was a captain before you and Rukia even entered the Soul Reaper Academy, and I was a seated officer for a long time before even that. I've had years and years to learn about _Senbonzakura Kageyoshi_ and how to use it to its fullest potential. Our swordsmanship styles revolve around different aspects of ourselves—I trend more towards speed and finesse, while you use your strength and relentlessness to your advantage—but I think we can both agree that I'm superior in that regard." He watched the captain grin slightly. "Plus my kido is better than yours."

He had come here for a serious talk—and so far it was, come to think of it—but he snorted at that. "_Everyone_'s kido is better than mine." He gave a self-deprecating laugh.

They were quiet for a few moments. Captain Kuchiki probably wanted the mood of the conversation to sober up again. Didn't take long.

"Second, I know what really motivated you to join Squad Six." This time he fixed his captain with a stare. How did the captain know? He'd only really talked about that with—"And please, forgive my wife. She found out about our... scuffle, after you were treated from what Unohana did to you. She didn't want me to punish you.

"In any case, I know you worked so hard to become my lieutenant because you two had grown so distant after we adopted her into my house, and you had it in your head that becoming my second-in-command—or by surpassing me—would mean you could talk to each other as equals again. And that's even though Rukia has never looked down on anyone." Byakuya looked thoughtfully at him. "How exactly _do_ you feel about my sister, Renji?"

That was a toughie. "I'll give you the answer to that once I figure out for myself, Captain."

Captain Kuchiki nodded. "I notice Rukia has that effect on people. Her personality, her history, and, I suppose, her current family, all seem to leave people with no idea as to how to relate to her."

Again, silence. He turned to look out the window, watching the clouds. After a moment he turned to look the other Soul Reaper in the eyes.

"What was the third thing, Captain Kuchiki?"

The captain turned to look out towards the horizon. "It's the logical conclusion of the first and second point I made. You were willing to risk _everything_. I'd practically cut you to pieces, and still you came at me! You were—_are_—so willing to protect Rukia you challenged a full-fledged captain with a bankai you barely had called forth a week ago. And that's exactly why, Lieutenant. You have many admirable traits, Renji Abarai, but the one that stands out most is the passion you pour into whatever you set your sights on. One of those things happen to be the well-being of my sister, so I can hold no anger over something like that."

Now that the captain mentioned it... "Yeah, well, turned out it was all pretty much moot in the end."

He saw Captain Kuchiki cock an eyebrow and smile. "And it looks I'm not the only one my wife tells things to."

He nodded and smiled back. "Yeah. She told me that you had no intention of letting Rukia be executed, but that you had to move within the system. Well, until you had no other choice. Lady Hisana told me you would have destroyed the Sokyoku yourself if Ichigo hadn't shown up."

"And that I would have, Renji." He saw the captain's eyes shift to look at something behind him. "And it looks like my tea is here."

He turned around. Oh. There was Lady Hisana. Looked like it was time to go, then.

He got up from his chair. "If you don't mind me saying so, Captain, we really should talk more often."

"I completely agree with you, Lieutenant Abarai."

He gave a respectful bow to both Kuchikis. "Have a nice day, Captain Kuchiki."

"You do the same, Lieutenant."

With that he turned and left the room.

* * *

Momo was in front of him. He moved to embrace her.

"Thank you, Momo," he told her. She had always been loyal to him, always at his back. Always supportive. Always with something nice to say on those days that he needed something like that. "Thank you. Goodbye."

And in a splash of hot blood the tip of _Kyoka Suigetsu_ emerged from her back as the lieutenant looked up in horror. He looked down. His hand was on the hilt, and it twisted the blade as whatever the young woman was going say was choked up by the blood flooding her throat.

"No!" Sosuke gasped and sat up. There was a popping noise, and when he turned to look to the left he saw one of the medical devices had died, spitting sparks. Must've released a wave of spiritual pressure after that nightmare.

Wait a second. Why was there medical machines here? He looked down at himself. Huh. And why was he wearing infirmary clothes? Why—

"Welcome back, Captain Aizen," a voice said from his right. He turned. Kaname.

In a flash, he remembered what had happened. Central Forty-Six, Unohana, everything.

"Lieutenant Hinamori?" he asked sharply.

"Still unconscious and in grave condition, but no longer in danger."

He nodded and let out the breath he didn't realize he'd been holding. "Good to see you made a quick recovery," he said, changing the subject. Didn't feel like thinking about his lieutenant right now. "While I was spending time on the floor after getting hit by that reflected kido, I saw you and Gin taking some bad hits. And after Unohana took me and Captain Hitsugaya out of the fight, I don't expect it got any easier."

He noticed Kaname looked a hit... fuzzy. Were his glasses smudged? He reached for them. Oh. Not wearing them. Oh well, he could see well enough without them, in any case.

"I was in better condition than Gin. He was essentially taking attacks full force. The sensory-overload ability of my shikai managed to muddle their aim enough that I wasn't hit directly most of the time. The sonic wave would have knocked anyone else unconscious, but the three of them barely felt it."

"I've always known those three were powerful, but not _quite_ that powerful," he mused. "Took on four shikais and a bankai, from what I saw. Speaking of bankais, how _is_ the Squad Ten captain?"

"Interestingly enough, his wounds were far less grievous than yours, Captain Aizen. I assume the ice armor from _Daiguren Hyorinmaru_ softened the blows enough that he wasn't outright killed. And it was actually three bankais that they faced. They eliminated mine and Gin's just as easily as Unohana struck down Hitsugaya."

"Like I said, powerful." Eh. His back was starting to hurt. He slowly lowered himself back to the bed. "So what happened to those three? I'd be stupefied to find out that we managed to subdue or kill them."

"Sadly, nothing of the sort. I don't know all the details, even now, but apparently Unohana intercepted Renji Abarai and Rukia Kuchiki as they were fleeing Sogyoku Hill."

"Hmm. To what end?"

"Apparently it was to retrieve something from Rukia Kuchiki's person. I don't know much more than that. In any case, doing so gave Lieutenant Matsumoto the time to get a distress signal out and advise the other captains on the situation.

"Subsequently, the ryoka boy—Ichigo Kurosaki is his name, I think—encountered the three rogue captains. And, at which point, he fared no better than any of us, even with his bankai.

Wait a moment. "The human who has only been a Soul Reaper for a month already achieved bankai?"

"Incredible, I know. And it's an odd kind of bankai, as well. Instead of a massive, constant outpouring of reishi, Ichigo's _Tensa Zangetsu_ actually takes his spiritual pressure and folds it back in on itself, compressing and containing it.

"Hmm." Interesting indeed. "The strain on his body must be immense."

"One would think. In any case, even an unusual bankai was no match for Unohana and her cohorts. Fortunately, Ichigo delayed them long enough that the rest of the uninjured captains were able to converge on the three's position."

He frowned. "So that leaves Yamamoto, Komamura, Soifon, Zaraki, and Kuchiki, plus quite a few lieutenants and high-seated officers. That should have been more than enough to kill the three of them."

"Four of them."

"Hmm?"

"In the end, Lieutenant Ise joined her captain in their uprising."

He frowned, then shook his head. "I'm both surprised and not surprised."

"What do you mean?"

"Unohana, Kyoraku, and Ukitake were—are? Eh—very close to their respective lieutenants, and even if they're aiming on destroying the Seireitei I think that closeness is genuine. So I'm not exactly shocked to hear that Ise had gone along with them. What _does_ surprise me is that Kotetsu and Shiba _didn_'_t_." He rubbed his forehead. "In any case, my point still stands. The remainder of the Seireitei should have been able to stop them."

"Except a swarm of Gillian-class Menos Grande saved them."

You'd think after having his trusted mentors betray him he'd be immune to these kinds of shocks. He just stared at Kaname for a few moments before he regained his composure. "So, they _were_ serious about controlling the Hollows."

"Hmm?"

"It's what Ukitake and Kyoraku explained to me before we crossed swords. Before they made their offer to me."

"I don't follow."

He shook his head. "I'll have to debrief the Head Captain about that. You and Gin arrived after they had presented me with the offer to join them."

Kaname didn't say anything. He laughed a wistful, humorless laugh. "And the thing is, what they told me—what their _motives_ behind their actions are—are, well... they aren't as abhorrent as you'd imagine."

The Squad Nine captain just looked down at him with those sightless eyes. Then, "Captain Aizen, you do know that Gin and I will be at your back for whatever path you choose." The blind man gave a rare smile. "Although I'm glad you did decline. That closeness you mentioned about those three and their lieutenants applies to you and Kyoraku and Ukitake. And if you had taken the path Lieutenant Ise had chosen, the Seiretei wouldn't have stood a chance, especially with _Kyoka Suigetsu_'s hypnosis."

"We'll never know," he said quietly. "And I thank you for that."

He closed his eyes and let his head sink into the pillow. He heard Kaname leaving the room.

"Before I go, I just want to suggest that you thank that ryoka boy and his friends."

"Mmm?" He opened his eyes.

"Gin and I are not physicians, Captain. Even if we weren't exhausted and half-unconscious from blood loss, you, your lieutenant, and possibly Captain Hitsugaya, would have died on that floor. I'd even wager that a full complement of Squad Four medical teams would have only slowed your deaths, not prevented it.

"Apparently, the ryoka girl—Orihime Inoue is her name—has some very remarkable powers. She managed to heal Ichigo in less than half an hour, despite the fact that he'd been cut nearly in two by Unohana. Lieutenant Kotetsu recognized that and asked her to go to the Central Forty-Six. She probably wouldn't have made it in time, but the ryoka boy's bankai grants him incredible speed, and he brought her to you.

"She healed you, all _three_ of you, from the brink of death. The strain was probably too much for he, since she collapsed before much of your injuries were healed, but as it stands she stabilized you and gave the physicians the time needed to get you out of danger. You—and Lieutenant Hinamori—owe your life to that girl."

He nodded. He _did_ owe a lot to those ryoka who'd originally been branded as attackers. His life. His lieutenant's life. And, judging by how their appearance had seemed to disrupt Unohana's plans, the Soul Society owed them some thanks as well.

"I'll talk to them once I have a chance. Definitely."

"Very good, then," he heard Kaname say. "I'll leave you to rest. Get well, Captain Aizen."

And then he was alone in his room.

* * *

"Lieutenant Shiba?" Rukia said uncertainly as she came upon Kaien Shiba. She'd been looking for the Squad Thirteen Lieutenant. She hadn't seen Kaien around much after the incidents a week ago, and she was, well worried. There was Third Seats Kotetsu and Kotsubaki to help keep things in order, sure, but it just wasn't the same. Kaien wasn't neglecting his duties as the current commander of Squad Thirteen, but hte trouble was that if the lieutenant wasn't working on official business, Kaien was nowhere to be found. The rest of the team was worried

_She_ was worried.

She'd found him, at least. The lieutenant was sitting on a hill a little ways off from the oddly-shaped but spacious Shiba manor. Just sitting there, staring off into the distance.

"Hello Rukia," she heard the lieutenant say evenly, turning to her and giving her a smile. It looked strained. "What brings you here?"

"Er... We're worried about you, Lieutenant?" she said uncertainly. Even before the... tragedy with Miyako Shiba, she'd always had had a hard time talking to Kaien. Didn't know why. Couldn't put her finger on it. It was just—

"The rest of the squad, or just you, Rukia?" she heard Kaien say to her.

She made a choking noise and quickly closed her mouth. She swallowed and tried again. "Uh... _all_ of us, Lieutenant," she said. Yeah, that would work. She quietly knelt down in the grass to the side and a little behind the lieutenant.

She heard the male Soul Reaper quietly laugh before turning back to look off towards the horizon. Uh. Okay. What did she do now? Ask him about... yeah, about _what_, exactly. "_Oh_ _Kaien_, _how do you feel after having our beloved captain betray us_?" Or maybe she could try "_Oh Kaien_, _we need you to lead us_, _because_—"

"Well, it's good to know that _everyone_—" she heard the same emphasis on that last word as she had put on "_all_"—still cares for me," Kaien replied in a soft voice. "And it's good that you've finally decided to come talk to me after what happened nineteen years ago."

He breathe caught in her throat. Nineteen years ago. It had been that long already? When the Hollow Metastacia had invaded and merged with Miyako Shiba's body and had started slaughtering confused Soul Reapers. Kaien had confronted his possessed wife, but wasn't able to bring himself to actually fight her. Right before Kaien was about to be killed, she'd... she'd...

She'd rammed her zanpakuto into Third Seat Miyako's back. The woman had died in her husband's arms.

And Miss Miyako had thanked her, tearfully, for protecting Kaien.

She just closed her eyes from the memories. She had always dreaded talking to the lieutenant about this, and now that it had come she didn't know what to say.

"Why, Rukia?" the other Soul Reaper said to her, still in that quiet voice.

"Because... I... She was going to kill—"

_Fwip_.

Whaa?

She brought her hands up to her nose where Kaien had flicked it with his fingers. But... but... What? That was something the lieutenant had always done on those days when he wanted to be goofy. Yet the expression on Kaien's face was dead serious.

"Rukia, come on. Let me finish." She tried to swallow, but her mouth was too dry. She didn't know how well she'd take it when Kaien finally let all that anger for what she had down to Miss Miyako out into the open.

"Why, Rukia?" she heard the lieutenant repeat. "Why do you blame yourself?

Wait, what? "I... Lieutenant?"

"You heard me. I still don't get why someone as smart as you decided to keep that guilt buried for so long. Never occurred to you to talk to me?"

She just shook her head. Didn't want to look into Kaien's eyes, either.

Kaien gave a sad grin. "Heh. I don't blame you at all. If our positions were reversed, I'd have avoided you. After all, I'd just killed the person I'd greatly admired and respected, and that person also happened to be the cherished spouse of that one lieutenant that everyone seems to like so much."

She felt one of Kaien's hands on her chin. She almost jumped into the air. Damn, what was...

She felt the hand gently lift her head up, so that she was looking into Kaien's eyes. "Listen Rukia. Listen carefully. I never, not once, not ever, blamed you for Miyako's death. I never resented you because of it. I never felt any anger towards you for what you had to do. _None_." The hand left her face and Kaien turned back to look into the distance.

"I would have died, Rukia," Kaien said slowly, deliberately. "I knew that the Hollow was driving what was left of my wife's body. I still couldn't bring myself to swing _Nejibana_ at her. I would have died. Stabbed. Right through the heart."

She suddenly remembered the conversation she'd had with Kaien back when she'd been training. About the heart, and how Kaien believed it was not something, but some_one_.

"And you saved both of us, Rukia. You saved my life. And you saved Miyako's soul. Controlled by Metastacia or not, she'd have _never_ forgiven herself if she'd cut me down. Why do you think she thanked you when you stabbed her?

"And after all that, my only regrets were that I couldn't have saved Miyako, and that I never thanked you. So thank you, Rukia. Thank you for saving my wife. Thank you for saving _me_."

She didn't say anything. What _could_ she say, anyway? He vision suddenly got blurry. She swiped at her eyes with her fingers, and they came away wet. Great. Crying in front of Kaien. She rubbed her eyes to get them dry again. Maybe she could pretend she'd had something stuck—

She looked back up at Kaien. She could see tears running freely down the man's cheeks. Kaien didn't look like he was trying to hide them, either.

After a few minutes she saw Kaien wipe his face with the sleeve of his shihakusho.

"Ah, what am I doing here?" she heard Kaien mutter. "Just because Ukitake defected doesn't give me a free pass for the doom and gloom. I act like this, everyone else in the squad does."

She waited. Kaien probably wanted to get more into the open besides that night nineteen years ago.

Kaien shook his head. "I thought I knew him, Rukia. The sad part was that Ukitake didn't change his personality. He didn't become a complete monster at the drop of a hat. He didn't start eating babies and kicking kittens because he defected. No. From the time he spoke to me I was able to tell he hadn't changed one bit.

"But that somehow makes it worse, though. He is still the man I grew to admire and respect... but at the same time, he isn't. He's advocating genocide, Rukia, and I'd never have thought the Captain Ukitake I knew and loved would even entertain such thoughts."

She slowly shuffled forward and placed a hand on Kaien's shoulder.

"The worst part was that he offered me a place by their side, Rukia. Ukitake told me about how they had to save the Soul Society, and the only way to do it was to end the Soul Reapers. I could tell he believed in every word he was saying... and, hell, I'd probably agree with some of the things he said.

"But what hurt me was that he thought I would betray my family and friends to follow him." She heard Kaien sigh. "He probably knew I would refuse, but he wanted to be at ease knowing that he'd at least offered me the choice."

They just sat there for what seemed like a long time, with her hand on Kaien's shoulder.

"Well, that's enough of that, I think. I'd probably depress you to death if I talked more." She almost yelped when she felt Kaien's fingers squeeze the hand that was on the lieutenant's shoulders. "Thanks for listening, Rukia. It means a lot."

"Yeah." That was all she could say. She'd probably squeak if she said something longer than one syllable. She let out a breath when Kaien let go.

"Eh. Well, without Captain Ukitake around it looks like it's on me now, Rukia," the lieutenant said to her with a wide smile. "Considering morale is low, I think a squad-wide dinner would help cheer everyone up. What do you think?"

"Sounds like a good idea," she said. Huh. Her voice hadn't trembled at all when she'd said that. Weird. Good sign, that.

They both stood up followed Kaien towards the manor. She could just barely see two goofy-looking servants—Something-Hiko and Something-Something-Hiko were their names—rapidly moving around, shepherding the other servants. She grinned at that.

* * *

"Isane? Are you there?"

Isane Kotetsu frowned and looked up from her paperwork. Ah, Kiyone.

And, if her sisters' gait and slurred speech was any indication, Kiyone was very drunk. Again.

"Kiyone, what's wrong?"

"Oh, nothing," she heard her sister rasp. "I'm just good. Well, except my captain is a traitor and everything, but yeah."

Kiyone stumbled to a chair in front of the desk and plopped herself down on it. After a few moments of staring off into space her sister keeled over onto the desk and began to snore loudly.

"Oh, perfect," she said to no one in particular. She wanted to get the Squad Four paperwork completed. With Captain Unohana gone it was up to her to... to...

He vision blurred for a moment, and a tear dropped to the piece of parchment she was scribbling on, smudging the ink. Ugh. She wiped the moisture from her eyes and dried her fingers on her shihakusho. Great. She would have to redo that report, but it looked like she would have to wait a bit until Kiyone woke up, since her sister was sprawled over the desk. Worse, she couldn't get on with the other write ups until she finished the one she'd just blotted.

Which meant, with nothing else to do, she had time to think. She didn't want to think.

She leaned back in her chair and closed her eyes. Again she felt the pain and betrayal from her captain's rebellion. She'd thought she'd known Unohana as well as a lieutenant could have. The—former—captain was always helping her improve her kido and medical prowess. Whenever she had an issue or a trouble, Unohana was always there to lend her ear, and sometimes a shoulder. And on those odd occasions where pushy Squad Eleven members thought Squad Four was their personal chew toy, Unohana was there was well.

"Heh," she whispered whimsically. It was incredible, really, that her captain could have kept something this big from her. There was not a sign that Unohana intended to wipe the Seireitei and every Soul Reaper out of existence.

When she'd viewed the crystal with a kido-embedded message, she thought Unohana was finally revealing a pranking side, but no, it had been too serious for that. And then news from Rankgiku about what had happened in the Central Forty-Six Chambers, and then hearing that Kyoraku, Ukitake, and Nanao had joined in her rebellion.

And sometimes, she wondered if Unohana was right, that the only way to save the entire Soul Society was a whole was to eliminate the Seireitei. She also wondered, sometimes at night when she couldn't get to sleep, if she should have joined them.

She wondered if Kaien Shiba felt like this, or Captain Aizen. Or her sister.

She leaned forward, opening her eyes. She looked towards Kiyone. There had to be _some_ way to get that girl to sober—

Kiyone wasn't sleeping... she was sobbing.

She quietly got up, moved her seat next to Kiyone, and sat back down. She edged closer and wrapped her sister in her arms. Kiyone basically melted and started sobbing into her shoulder, which brought back unwanted memories of the time Unohana would comfort her.

"Why, Isane?" her sister sobbed into her shoulder. "I... _we_... all loved Captain Ukitake. _Everyone_, even outside our division. Why would he do something like this?"

She wished she had an answer. Truth was, she wondered the exact same thing with Captain Unohana. Everyone loved that woman almost as much as Ukitake, so why? Was Unohana's reasoning about the Hollows killing everything really that... cold?

"I wish I could answer that, Kiyone, I really do," she whispered as she cradled her sister.

* * *

Something soft was squishing against the left side of Gin's face. Warm, and something about how they felt was vaguely... familiar. Also the sound of snoring. And he could see wavy hair. Wait a second.

His eyes shot open. He took a look, and, yes, he was right in guessing what was smooshing on his face. He opened his mouth and bit lightly into the object pressing down on him.

There was a loud shriek and Rangiku tumbled off the hospital bed and onto the floor. He burst out laughing. His lover spluttered incoherently for a few moments before shrilly accusing, "Gin, you bit my _boob_!"

"Self-defense," he said with a grin.

"What!"

"You were suffocating me!"

"I was keeping you company while you recovered, and I fell asleep!"

"You were _suffocating_ me!"

"You could have said something!"

"Except your exceptional bosom was pressed into my face. It would have been muffled!"

"Well, you could have poked me in the ribs or tugged my hair or something. No portion of my body below my collarbone may be nibbled, even by _you_, except when I'm in the mood."

"Next time _completely_ close up your robe before you take a snooze next to me so we don't have this problem again!"

"It was warm in this room! And I didn't feel like getting bitten."

He put on a thoughtful expression. "Now that you mention it, you didn't mind three months back, with the gold bandana and you pretending your name was Sikuza. You—"

"We never did that!"

"_Yet_."

He watched Rangiku's jaw hang open before the woman made an exasperated noise. "I almost don't _want_ to know how you overheard me say that to my captain."

He grinned wider. "You're able to fake being unconscious, you know. And it helped that my eyes were almost swollen shut. And _no_, I was not purposely doing the squinting thing, so you have no reason to hit me."

Rangiku hit him.

"Ow. Would it be too much to ask you to hit a shoulder that isn't bandaged?"

He waited for the second punch. Never came. Instead, Rangiku sat down on the bed and hugged him, hard.

"You could have died in that place, Gin," he heard his lover whisper to him."

"I'm perfectly fine, really. Besides, Kaname and I had them right where we wanted them."

This time Rangiku would punch him for sure. Right? Any second now?

The woman just let go and sat back, looking out the window of the hospital room. Well, okay, this wasn't going the way he wanted it to.

"If there was one thing I could say I hate about you Gin, it's that."

Hmm? Rangiku's voice had gone dead serious. For one of the few times in his life he didn't have something clever to say. So he just waited.

"You've left me before so many times Gin. The time before this I thought it was for good. And if things had gone badly a week ago... it _would_ have been for good."

And that he had. After he'd saved the pretty strawberry-blonde girl named Rangiku Matsumoto those many years back life had become... different. He'd used to living on his own, getting by. With someone else living with him after, well...

He felt his usual grin leave his face.

There were times he'd have to leave for days on end to get what they needed. Food, shelter, money, clothing, everything. Usually he'd deal shrewdly. Other times he'd just had to outright steal. And a couple of times he'd had to kill.

He had never told Rangiku. He'd been worried that the girl would just up and leave him. He'd probable been wrong about that, but that was water under the bridge.

What mattered was that there had been just that many times where he would vanish with no signs that he had any intention of returning... and the day he'd left all the money, food, and goods he had to Rangiku and entered the Seiretei, he'd intended to leave the young woman forever.

But Rangiku had found him again. They'd reunited. Of course, for a while she was furious with him, but they reconciled. Sort of. Whenever Rangiku brought up the question of why he had left, he always sidestepped the question with that obfuscating way of speaking he was good with. He was pretty sure Rangiku was used enough to his personality by then that the woman could have pressed the issue, but it had never happened. But now, after that little misadventure last week, it was coming up again.

Well.

"I'm sorry," he said. And, again for one of the few times in his life, he meant every word of it.

Rangiku looked back at him. His lover still looked hurt.

"Rangiku, I'm not a nice person. Never was, never will be. The less you were around me the better off you'd be."

"I grew up with you. Pretty sure I turned out fine." He watched Rangiku give a soft, gentle smile, something which was surprisingly rare. "And you could've just told me that, you know, when you started leaving."

"Yeah," he agreed. "And I'm sorry about that, too."

He watched his lover nod. "And just to let you know, you're right, you're not a nice person. But I think you're a good enough one."

He just nodded at that. Wait, hold on, this shouldn't be happening. Had to change the subject before he started feeling warm and fuzzy inside. Or feeling nice.

"But, just so _you_ know, I'm _not_ sorry about that nibble."

She watch his lover cock an eyebrow before she hefted one of the pillows lying on his bed.

He put on a wounded expression. "We were having such a nice conversation, and now you want to end it?"

"You know, we understand each other well enough to know when a conversation is resolved and done," was the reply. "And in that little conversation I know that you're still a decent person and that you're sorry, I think we should get back to the subject of biting me. _And_ pretending to still be in a coma when I've been worried sick about you!"

"Well, about that second thing. You know I have this thing with watching people, and what better way to observe them when they think I'm unconscious? And, besides, you wouldn't hit an injured man, would you? I mean, I'm covered in bandages. And the burns! Have you no idea how large the burn was on my—"

Rangiku whacked him with the pillow.

* * *

The hospital setting was a bit... depressing.

Toshiro leaned back in his chair and rubbed his eyes, wincing. The bandages covering his chest still concealed half-healed, deep slash wounds that still smarted when he moved his torso. Beside him the machines that were helping Momo stay alive sucked, beeped, and whirred.

He started to close his eyes and started to lean his head back... dammit. He shook his head and sat upright. He'd told himself he'd stay awake for another two hours. He wasn't going to renege on that, especially not when it was for Momo.

He blinked his eyes to get the grit out of them—it was a couple of hours past midnight—and looked down at his childhood friend. Momo looked peaceful at least, which was a stark contrast to how serious her wounds were.

When a Soul Reaper attacked, the damage he or she inflicted wasn't just based on how big or sharp or pointy their weapon was, but also by the strength of their spiritual pressure. It was how those with monstrous amounts of spiritual energy—Captain Zaraki was a prime example—could inflict traumatic wounds that belied the actual sword stroke. Conversely, a Soul Reaper with high amounts of reishi could release it and soften an incoming blow and reduce its damage. It was why high-class Soul Reapers could deal _and_ take much more damage than rank-and-file troops.

And it was why, when a powerful Soul Reaper—Captain Aizen had a great deal of spiritual pressure, even by a captain's standard—had stabbed Momo with the full intent to kill it had inflicted such a terrible injury. Yes, Aizen hadn't been aiming for the lieutenant, but it hadn't mattered. Momo was still here, barely saved from death. It had been _Kyoka Suigetsu_ that had done that.

Oh, hell.

He shook his head and pinched the bridge of his nose, frowning. No, it wasn't Aizen's fault. It was Unohana's, Ukitake's, and Kyoraku's. And he knew it. But the three traitorous captains were off who knew where, where he couldn't let them know just how he felt about getting Momo hurt like this. Aizen _was_ here, where he could blame the other captain. It wasn't fair at all, but emotions didn't always do fair.

He took a deep breath and let it out slowly. He quietly got up from his seat and stepped closer to where Momo lay in bed, eyes closed. It would have been a pleasant scene, except for the tubes sticking out various parts of the girl's body and the breathing apparatus on her face.

And then he found himself gently stroking Momo's hair. Huh. What had made him do—

He heard the door slide open slowly. He withdrew his hand just as another person dressed in hospital garb entered the room quietly.

"Good evening, Captain Hitsugaya."

"Evening, Captain Aizen."

The older captain limped over. Humph. He'd had the protection of his bankai when Unohana had hit him, but Aizen had taken the strikes full force. Even a week later it didn't look like the Squad Five captain was up to his best.

"Should you be out of bed?" he asked. Even with his own wounds, nearly healed, the physicians had told him to limit his movement as much as possible. He imagined that the other Soul Reaper had been _confined_ to bed by order of the doctors... and the pain the other man must be feeling just to walk. Not that Aizen seemed to care much, it seemed.

"I don't know. Something might have slipped my mind, though, what with all the medications I have to take."

He snorted at that. The other captain approached, standing on the other side of Momo's bed.

"How is she, Captain Hitsugaya?"

"Unchanged," he said gruffly. He had another urge to touch Momo again, but he refrained from doing so. "She's recovering, but slowly."

Aizen didn't say anything, only reaching out to touch the shoulder of the lieutenant. He watched the older captain say something quietly, something he couldn't quite make out. Sounded almost like "sorry."

His felt a twinge on his side, and he kept himself from grimacing as he shifted into a more comfortable position. He could barely believe that the more severely wounded Aizen wasn't wavering on his feet. Of course, he hadn't believed Unohana could have trounced them so easily, or that the Squad Four captain could have been a traitor at all. A lot of beliefs had been shattered in the last several days. Perhaps—

He looked up and saw the Squad Five captain hobbling towards the door. He frowned.

"Good night, Captain Hitsugaya."

Humph. Aizen was normally composed, mild. Now, as the other captain turned to leave, the man was almost... morose. Still polite to a fault, and Aizen wasn't being obvious about it, but anyone could see the Squad Five captain was troubled about something.

Three guesses as to what.

"It wasn't your fault," he said tersely. Aizen stopped abruptly and slowly turned back to look at him. He saw the other man cock his head. "To be perfectly honest I would love _nothing_ more than to blame you for Momo lying on this hospital bed in a coma." He looked deep into the other Soul Reaper's eyes. "But I'm not a petulant child. I know what happened. I know it was Kyoraku and Ukitake who are really at fault."

Aizen just looked at him, and he couldn't quite tell what the older man was thinking.

"Momo would have fretted herself sick if she found you moping around like this over nothing. So stop."

He watched the other man's eyes widen briefly before settling back to normal. Aizen didn't say anything for a few moments, just stood there, eyes focused on something else. Then the older captain nodded respectfully. "I suppose I should. Thank you for staying by her side, Captain Hitsugaya."

Aizen turned back towards the door.

"Thank you for protecting her."

This time Aizen just paused for a heartbeat before giving a slight nod and walking out the door.

* * *

Kaien waited for Ichigo Kurosaki, Orihime Inoue, Uryu Ishida, and Yasotora Sado—whom everyone called "Chad" for some unexplained reason—to arrive at the Senkaimon. Next to him was Captain Aizen and Rukia. He didn't have anything to do—Kiyone and Sentaro were really throwing themselves at their work—and he did want to thank Ichigo and company for saving Rukia. Rukia was here because she seemed close to the human boy. That, and Rukia seemed to be sticking close to a certain Squad Thirteen lieutenant ever since they had talked on that hill a couple of nights back. He didn't mind at all.

As for to the captain, he was sure Aizen wanted to thank them for saving their lives.

He squinted. Hmm. Off in the distance he saw four figures approaching, one of them a girl and another one of them a noticeably taller boy. Looks like the four heroes of the Soul Society were arriving.

He saw Captain Aizen nod to him. He nodded back, and turned to the half dozen Kido Corps specialists standing off a few yards behind. "Prepare to open it." The Corps members nodded and began to feed the Senkaimon gate with reishi in preparation for activating it.

As the four approached, he remembered that quite a few people seemed to think that Ichigo resembled him. Hmm. Put a couple of years on the human, change the hair color, and take away the perpetual scowl and it might be passable.

"You know, he does look a bit like me," he said offhandedly to Rukia.

"Oh? I, uh, yeah. I think so too, Lieutenant."

He turned away from the shorter Soul Reaper so Rukia wouldn't see his grin. Every once and a while fielding those kind of remarks to the girl always seem to fluster her. Reminded him a bit when he was courting Miyako.

It was a long time since he'd had the security and warmth of a beloved. _Too_ long.

"Lieutenant?"

He started and looked back, mentally shaking himself. Rukia had a look of genuine concern on her face. Again he thought of Miyako.

He shook his head and smiled crookedly. "It's nothing. Reminiscing, is all."

"Ah, all right."

Yeah, time to talk about something else. "Captain Aizen?"

"Yes, Lieutenant Shiba?"

"How are you doing? I remember hearing that you are still technically confined to the hospital." Okay, a bit more inane than he would have liked, but he wanted to think about something else.

He saw the captain shrug. "I'm past the worst of the injuries, I think. I won't be going into battle against Hollows anytime soon, but I'm well enough to handle administrative tasks. My third seat isn't really accustomed to the paperwork a captain and a lieutenant should be handling." He noticed a touch of sadness on the captain's eyes before it disappeared. "At least both of us are still around. It must be incredibly hard on Squad Eight."

Yeah. With both Kyoraku and Nanao gone, it was falling on the third, fourth and fifth seats to keep the company up and running. "I've had Sentaro helping them out. It's still a disaster, though."

"The past few weeks have been nothing but," he heard the Squad Five leader say to him.

He didn't know what to say to that.

Finally the ryoka—plus an odd black cat—reached the Senkaimon.

Ichigo waved. "Hey, Rukia. Uh..." He saw the human's eyes shift to him and Captain Aizen. "I don't know these two."

He almost snorted. Looked like in addition to frowning all the time, Ichigo wasn't exactly the politest person to walk the Soul Society.

He stepped forward, extended his hand. "I'm Kaien Shiba, lieutenant of Squad Thirteen." Ichigo didn't appear to really appreciate the title. "I'm, uh, Rukia's superior?"

He saw realization in Ichigo's face before it was replaced by, surprise, surprise, a scowl. "Oh. She talks about you a lot." Ichigo shook his hand.

He cocked an eyebrow and looked sidelong at Rukia. The woman gave him a sheepish grin. "Eh-heh."

He chuckled to himself and turned back to the ryoka. "You also know my brother and sister?"

Again, he saw Ichigo connect the dots. Quickly, too. Even if the human wasn't a shining example of etiquette, the boy was sharp. "Ganju and Kukaku, huh? You don't look like them much."

"Well, I think I can see some of Kukaku's eyes. I think," he heard the pretty girl with dark orange hair mention.

"Maybe Ganju's... hair, too," the tall, imposing boy added.

"Hair?" The bespectacled, slim boy whose expression was almost as stern as Ichigo's said. "Chad, I don't think hair is an indication of who his siblings are. You can style your hair, you know."

"It was a thought," the taller boy—Chad, the ryoka's name was—said in a deadpan.

He heard Captain Aizen clear his throat quietly. Right.

"With that out of the way," he said, shifting his voice to a more solemn tone, "I just want to thank you all for what you've done for us, especially for saving one of my people." He gestured to Rukia, he didn't move save for a slight bow to Ichigo.

Ichigo just blinked once before the boy nodded his head. "Wasn't a problem."

He smiled at that, stepping back so Aizen could speak.

"I am Captain Sosuke Aizen, commander of Squad Five. I speak on the behalf of the Seireitei when I extend my gratitude for what you have done."

He saw Ichigo peer at the captain closely. Must have recognized the captain from before.

"You were in that board meeting place. With all the dead guys in robes and funny hats."

"Yes, the Central Forty Six Chamber," he heard the captain confirm. "And that's one reason why I asked Head Captain Yamamoto to speak with you all personally."

He saw understanding dawn on Orihime and Ichigo's faces at the Squad Five captain's words.

"I want to thank you, from the bottom of my heart, for saving my life and life of my lieutenant."

"Oh, the girl with the hair bun," said Orihime, concern coloring the young girl's voice. "What's her name? Is she okay?"

"Momo Hinamori. She's... recovering for now. But it was you who kept her—and me—alive from our mortal wounds." He saw the captain turn to Ichigo. "And it was you who made sure she reached us in time. Without you we would have been dead long before she got to us. And, as an aside, I'm incredibly amazed you achieved bankai in such a short time. Incredible."

During that he noticed Ichigo looked unsure, like the human didn't know how to respond. He'd guess that Ichigo wasn't used to being thanked, or praised.

"Like I said, it was nothing."

He saw Captain Aizen just nod at that. He was sure the captain understood that was Ichigo's way of saying "you're welcome." Heh.

There was a sound, like a rush of wind, accompanied by a burst of light from behind them. Ah, looked like the Senkaimon was up and running.

He stepped back to give the ryoka easy access to the gate. "This Senkaimon gate will take you back to your own world. It's been specifically set to allow you passage, so you won't have to worry about the Dangai Cleaners."

"And before you go," he heard Captain Aizen say, stepping in front of Ichigo, "this is for you." The older Soul Reaper reached a hand inside his haori and drew out a small shield-shaped object.

He saw Ichigo look at it in puzzlement. "What's this thing?"

"A Substitute Soul Reaper badge. Over the centuries the Seireitei have deemed Substitute Soul Reapers to be beneficial to the Soul Society, so they are given this symbol as proof of their position. It will allow you to emerge from your human body, as well as acting as a pass whenever you travel in the Seireitei." Aizen's voice lowered. "Hardly a sufficient way of thanking you for all you've done."

"Hey, like I said, it was nothing. I'd do it again without a second thought."

He stole a glance sideways and saw Captain Aizen grin slightly. "Very well, then." The captain turned to look at the Senkaimon. "You have better get going. Those gates aren't stable for long."

Without further words Ichigo Kurosaki, Orihime Inoue, Uryu Ishida, Yasotora "Chad" Sado, and that little black cat stepped through the gate, departing the Soul Society.

Once the gate had sealed, he turned to Captain Aizen. "I have this feeling that we'll be meeting them again."

The captain nodded. "I do, too."

"And, hopefully, I won't be waiting to be executed for that to happen," he heard Rukia spoke dryly.

"Eh, we can hope," he replied.

* * *

She stood at the balcony, a sky of eternal night hanging over her head. A faint breeze blew over the desert sands, rising up along the walls of the imposing, gargantuan Las Noches fortress and disturbing her hair, which she no longer kept in its tight braid.

Retsu Unohana, former captain of Squad Four of the Thirteen Court Guard Squads, turned from the desolate sight of the Hueco Mundo sands as she heard a distinct noise, like a burst of static, behind her.

Another woman had appeared, younger, taller, more muscular, with long green hair and what looked like a horned helmet adorning her head. The newcomer fell to one knee and bowed her head in respect.

"Good evening, Nelliel," she said amiably. "Please, rise."

"Lady Unohana," the Arrancar said respectfully, inclining her head briefly before getting back to her feet.

"Is there anything to report?" she inquired.

"Yes, my lady. The Cuarto Espada and I managed to track the Menos you were interested in. We haven't initiated contact with him, but Nnoitra is keeping a close eye on him."

She cocked an eyebrow at that. "You're sure Nnoitra isn't going to do anything brash?"

She saw the Espada give a small grin. "I think not. He _has_ changed these past few years, Lady Unohana."

She smiled inwardly. It had been mostly Nelliel's doing that had helped... _dissuade_ Nnoitra from his misogynistic, sexist attitude and a pathological inferiority complex, the latter of which seemed to manifest itself in a bloodthirsty desire for victory in mindless brawls and a general nastiness.

Now, Nnoitra still wasn't a pleasant person to be around, but at least the Arrancar had lost his most repulsive traits. Who knew. If Nelliel could keep shoving Nnoitra Jiruga in the right direction, the Cuarto Espada might actually become likable.

In any case, she didn't have the time to muse about her Arrancar, did she?

"Then thank you, Nelliel. You should get some rest. In half a day I'll send Luppi or Cirruci to take over the observation."

"We are not going to bring him in?"

"Not at this time. Ukitake, Kyoraku, and I are still trying to get the Hogyoku activated, though it should not be long now."

"I see. Is there anything else I can do for you?"

"Not at this time."

"Very well. Shall I take my leave then?"

"Yes, you are dismissed."

She watched Nelliel give a respectful bow, and in a rush of spiritual energy and a sound of static, the Primera Espada was gone.

She turned to look out over the desert sands.

Soon, all preparations would be complete. As much as it pained her, the assault on the Soul Society would soon begin.


	7. Part II: Rising Waves

**_DOWNFALL_**

By

Gregory Wong

* * *

**_PART II: RISING WAVES_**


	8. Chapter 5: Cherry Blossoms

**_DOWNFALL_**

By

Gregory Wong

* * *

**Chapter 5: Cherry Blossoms**

* * *

Two figures, one cloaked in raging winds and crackling lightning, the other wrapped in a black robe and dark reishi, clashed at the site of a razed execution ground.

One was the first of his kind, the other the last. One young and full of boundless energy, the other old and quietly weary of his endless life. One sought to preserve life, while the other aimed to destroy it.

Both would die before they would let the other succeed.

A howling gale mixed with the shadowy tendrils of spiritual energy exploded out as _Messer_ grinded against _Tensa_ _Zangetsu_. The vampiric Bount chieftain, Jin Kariya, strained his considerable might against the burgeoning power of a young human-turned-Soul Reaper, Ichigo Kurosaki.

"The Joukai Crest is backed by the strength of _all_ the Bounts," snarled Kariya. "Can you withstand it, Ichigo Kurosaki?"

Zanpakuto parted from Bount Doll before meeting again in another titanic clash of spiritual energy.

"What did you ever do to help the Bounts, Kariya?" an enraged Ichigo demanded. "You told me yourself that they were nothing more than pawns to be used and thrown away... and I'm not about to be defeated by someone like you!"

Steel rang and lightning crackled, and the two combatants tried to leverage for position. "You know nothing of me! People will _always_ hate those that are better than they are." Pain, almost imperceptible amidst the strain and anger, caused Kariya's voice to crack. "Your friends are no different. Over time the people you trusted will come to fear your power, and will distance themselves from you."

The thoughts of the Bount leader turned to the painful memories of the distant past, and horrible realization that he was alone in the world. The last Bount.

"_Where is the logic in protecting disloyal people_!" Kariya roared.

Even with most of his concentration focused on maintaining his reishi coherence and strength, Ichigo couldn't help but think about those words. Deep down, he knew he had immense power. He knew that the people of the Seireitei were terrified of his potential if he turned against the Soul Society. His monstrous spiritual energy, the Hollow locked within the depths of his psyche, his sheer force of will... all served to make him something the Soul Reapers would fear.

But the difference was that the Soul Reapers did _not_ fear him. Not now. And what separated him from Kariya was that he would never give them a reason to fear him. _Ever_.

"It's not about logic! It's what I feel. I protect them because I choose to!"

The words reached past Kariya's despair and rage, and for a brief moment the Bount's resolve faltered. A heartbeat later it came rushing back as Kariya decided how this battle was going to end.

"Nothing matters anymore... this is the end of everything," the last Bount whispered to the Soul Reaper.

Blinding light lit the sky as _Messer_ and _Tensa_ _Zangetsu_ clashed for one last time.

As the luminescence faded and the dust cleared, Ichigo Kurosaki feel to his knees, gasping in pain.

Kariya turned to look down at this opponent. "I guess it's all over with now. I'm a bit disappointed, to tell the truth." Ichigo, panting, turned to look back at the white-haired man. "I would have liked to see if you would have walked down the same path I have."

Kariya lifted his hand from his abdomen, where it came away slick with his blood. Feeling his strength ebbing, the Bount called to the human one last time, wishing the young Soul Reaper well, hoping that this boy would not fall into the despair and weariness that he had. He had felt the uniqueness of Ichigo's power, the force of will and honest fury in his heart, and hoped that things would turn out differently for this strange human.

But he could do no more than mutter Ichigo's name before his life faded and the Bount dissolved into lifeless dust.

* * *

"Well, that was a rather troublesome predicament," Shuhei Hisagi heard his captain mutter darkly. Captain Tosen also said something else, but he was too busy panting for breath to hear the rest of it.

It had been extremely hard work to keep the several Joukai Crests buried throughout the Seireitei from exploding, but they had done it. Ichigo Kurosaki, the Substitute Soul Reaper from the human world, had managed to kill the Bount leader, Jin Kariya. The other Bounts had been engaged—and defeated—by the other captains.

It had been a close thing, though. Even with the restraining kido everyone was using, it wouldn't have held for more than a few minutes. At that point the closest Crest would have detonated, starting a chain reaction that would have done completely nasty things to the Soul Society.

"It's all over now, at least," he heard his captain's closest friend and companion, Captain Sajin Komamura, huff. "And that human boy was again in the middle of it."

"Well, Sajin, he _did_ save us," he heard Captain Tosen note.

He heard the wolfish captain give a barking laugh. "I am not doubting that, Kaname. It's just, well, I must admit I find it disconcerting how chaos seems to follow this Substitute Soul Reaper around."

"We live in chaotic time, Sajin."

"That we do."

After listening to the two captains talk, he took a deep breath and stood upright again. Eh. He didn't feel like doing that again anytime soon.

"Shuhei," he heard his captain say. "We should report back to Captain Yamamoto to appraise him of the situ—"

There was a sound of rushing air and a brief burst of smothering spiritual pressure. Wait, he knew—

"Where is he?" he heard Kenpachi Zaraki demand. Ugh. Zaraki wasn't controlling his spiritual energy again, and he felt it beating down on him like summer heat. "Where is that white-haired vampire bastard?"

"Grab a broom," his captain said to Zaraki.

"What?"

"Never mind."

"Bah. I'm guessing you haven't seen a surly-looking Soul Reaper in a sleeveless shihakusho, have you?"

"Not personally," Captain Tosen said with a touch of irony. Huh. Wasn't a usual occurrence that his captain spoke lightly of his blindness. "There might have been a mention of a Soul Reaper stepping between Ichigo and Kariya during the course of the battle. Other than that, I haven't heard."

"Ichinose always made himself a nuisance."

"Stones and glass houses." This from Captain Komamura.

"Eh?"

"Oh, nothing."

He scratched his head. Last time Zaraki, Komamura, and Captain Tosen had exchanged words, his captain had ended up injured and Captain Komamura was about to bash his bankai against Captain Zaraki. Ah, and Yumichika had done something strange with _Fuji Kujaku_.

Looking at this, you wouldn't think there had been bad—hell, _murderous_—blood between the three captains.

"By the way, I never knew you could flash-step, Captain Zaraki," he said to the Squad Ten leader, hoping to change the subject. He doubted anyone was in the mood for a scuffle right now, save Zaraki, but that was Zaraki for you.

The captain in question eyed him balefully. "One thing I hate is having to rely on something I didn't learn myself. That is the _sole_ reason why I don't use it, unless a fight is good enough for me to swallow my pride and use flash-step to get there quicker."

"People like you have pride?" he heard Captain Komamura say in response. Uh oh. That was strange, because Captain Komamura didn't talk back to people.

The Squad Eleven captain whirled on his captain's friend. "Funny hearing that from a person who hid his dog-face for decades because he was worried people might make fun of him."

Captain Komamura snarled and moved a hand towards _Tenken_, but stopped. The captain took a few deep breaths before speaking. "Neither Kaname, nor _I_, have a desire to share in your bloodlust, Captain Zaraki. We have a report to make."

He heard Zaraki snort. "You know what would happen if we did."

"I know that without having to be focused on what Captain Aizen had wanted me to do, the battle would not be the rout you had enjoyed," his captain said mildly. "Let's go, Shuhei."

"Right behind you, Captain."

* * *

"Hmm," Nanao heard her captain—former captain? She wasn't sure what Kyoraku was anymore—sigh. "Looks like the Seireitei had their hands full the last month."

"Er, yes," she affirmed. She straightened her glasses and continued her report. "The invaders are identified by the Soul Reapers as "Bounts", vampiric humans that prey on human souls. They are believed to be created several centuries ago when a Research Division's experiment went awry. The majority of Bounts were eventually exterminated by Soul Reaper strike teams."

"Why does that not surprise me?" she heard the Tercera Espada, Tia Hallibel, mutter, bitterness hiding behind an angry tone. There was a clicking noise as Hallibel tapped fingernails against her mask remnants.

She didn't comment on that, just readjusted her notes. There were quite a few high-level Las Noches officers here: Captains Unohana, Ukitake, Kyoraku, along with the five strongest Espada: Nelliel Tu Odelschwank, Dordonii Alessandro Del Socacchio, Tia Hallibel, Nnoitra Jiruga, and Aaroniero Arruruerie.

Made her a bit nervous, really. Granted, Nelliel, Dordonii, and Tia were respectful and friendly to her, but she didn't much like Nnoitra or Aaroniero. Nnoitra just had a nasty temperament, and Aaroniero was just... creepy.

She mentally shook herself and stabbed a button on the control panel in front of her. The screen behind her display a picture of several human-looking beings.

"The surviving Bounts banded together under Jin Kariya, and they dropped off the map for a few centuries. Recently, they reemerged in the human world and used the Quincy Uryu Ishida to stage an assault on the Soul Society. They were defeated by the Thirteen Court Guard Squads, and Kariya was personally killed by Ichigo Kurosaki."

"Heh," she heard Ukitake chortle. "Ichigo does seem to be the subject of discussion whenever we use the words "trouble" and "Soul Society" in the same sentence."

"Indeed," her captain added. "It's, well, fascinating to see how fast his power has grown, not to mention this strange loyalty he feels to the Seireitei."

"I don't think it's that which motivates him," Unohana disagreed. "Well, at least, it's not loyalty to the Seireitei itself. I believe it's more to his friends and comrades, not to some insufficient and deteriorating institution like the Seireitei. Last time Ichigo showed up in the Soul Society, it was because of the situation Rukia Kuchiki was in." She watched Unohana's gaze move to her. "Intelligence Specialist Ise, is there any evidence that the same happened this time around?"

She shook her head. "Not that I know of at this time. My spies are trying to piece together Ichigo's motives for being there. I _do_ think, for what it's worth, that the Quincy's presence—Uryu Ishida is a friend of Ichigo's—is what triggered him to come to the Soul Society."

"Specialist Ise." That was Dordonii, the Segundo Espada. "How strongly does this _niño_ care for his companions?"

She shrugged. "Officially, I can't be sure. Unofficially, well... let me put it this way: he invaded the Soul Society, and took on all comers, to rescue Rukia Kuchiki."

"I think that answers my question," the Arrancar said thoughtfully. The Espada looked at Unohana. "_Señora_ Unohana, you crossed blades with the _niño_. How powerful is he, really?"

"Considering he had been a Soul Reaper for a only few months and was not outright killed when I cut through him, I would say he's shockingly strong."

"I would interpret that as saying that the boy can be trouble if he was allowed to reinforce the Seireitei," she heard Tia say grimly. I don't have a doubt that the Espada will be able to make short work of him, but we'll have several captain- and lieutenant-grade Soul Reapers to contend with when we finally make our move. I wouldn't want to be distracted. Or flanked."

As the others were talking about this and that, her mind was churning. It was a trouble that Ichigo was so strong, and that he made boneheaded moves whenever his friends were threatened, like taking on the entire Seireitei.

Wait a second.

"Captain Unohana, I may have an idea."

Unohana looked at her intently. "Please, go on."

"Sometimes, I've noticed that when you have two problems, they sometimes solve each other..."

* * *

"Kenny?" Yachiru asked as her captain started hacking away at a tree trunk that had been stuck in the ground of the training area. The sun was just starting to rise, making the shadows all long and weird.

"What... is it... Yachiru?" Kenny replied between grunts as her captain whacked away at the tree.

"Um... you seem angry lately."

Kenny stopped tree-slaying and looked back at her, an eyebrow raised in puzzlement.

"Well, angrier than usual. Or something. I mean, you haven't yelled at Ikkaku or Yumichika yet." Hmm. She was forgetting someone... oh! "And Maki-Maki!"

Her captain didn't say anything, just stopping tree-chopping and started binding up his zanpakuto in linen sheets that Kenny always kept hidden somewhere. One of these days she was going to find out where those were kept hidden, see if she didn't.

Kenny just kept on wrapping up the blade, though. She wrinkled her noise and concentrated, trying to see her captain's reishi patterns. She was kind of good at that, if she had enough time to look. If she could get a good look she could make a guess on what a person was thinking or feeling. Hmm. Kenny's spiritual energy right now was.. Red. Spiky, too, and it waved around a lot before it started to swirl in on itself, making a shape like diamond. Huh? Now the diamond had squished in on itself and had turned into a sphere that pulsed red and yellow.

The spikiness and swirliness and redness and diamondness meant Kenny was angry and agitated. Well, duh, she could see that. She'd never seen the ball before, or seen it change from red to yellow and back again.

Really weird. She'd seen that ball-thing once, and it had been when Kaien Shiba had been sitting near a tree. Kaien had looked really sad.

Hold on. Was Kenny...?

She hopped off the tree branch she'd been sitting on and stepped over to Kenny, jumping on his back.

"Kenny?"

"What is it, Yachiru?"

"Why are you sad?"

Kenny turned his head to look at her. "Why do you think I'm sad? I'm Kenpachi Zaraki. I don't do sad."

"Kenny, why are you sad?"

Her captain didn't answer, just grumbled something and headed back towards the barracks and breakfast. Hmm. She didn't like it when Kenny kept things to himself, especially if her captain was sad. A sad Kenny was a bad, bad Kenny.

She levered herself up on Kenny's shoulder. "Is it because of what Captain Komamura and Captain Tosen said?"

"Of course not."

"Is it because you didn't get to kill that vampire guy?"

"That would make me annoyed, not sad."

"Maki Ichinose?"

"No, he just annoys me, too."

"Is it because of that thing a few months ago, with Captain Uno—"

"_Enough_, Yachiru," Kenny said, his voice a little different.

Oh, she understood now. So _that_ was it. She didn't say anything else.

* * *

"The cherry blossoms are beautiful this time of year," Byakuya said to his wife.

"That they are, my husband," Hisana replied.

They were just enjoying the afternoon today. With all the recent trouble caused by the Bounts, he was glad to just enjoy a simple spring day. Renji had even volunteered to take care of the day's paperwork and administrative duties, so he didn't even have to worry about that. He could just stroll through the park, Hisana's hand in the crook of his arm, and just enjoy life.

There was a brief gust of air, bringing with it cherry blossom petals that flowed over them, some catching in his wife's hair. It made Hisana even more lovely. He smiled warmly, lightly brushing the pink specks away.

"I've always found it odd how your shikai looks so much like these petals, Byakuya" he heard his wife muse.

"It _is_ a bit more... poetic than, say, _Shinso_ or _Zabimaru_," he agreed. "Or _Tenken_. Or _Ashisogi Jizo_. Or _Suzumebachi_. Or..."

"Oh, stop it Byakuya!" his wife scolded him playfully. "I get the picture!"

He chuckled. " At any rate, I am relieved that it did not sacrifice form for function."

"Elegantly—" Hisana stopped and cleared her throat, loudly. "Ahem. Elegantly effective, I think the term should be."

"Mmm," he hummed offhandedly.

That was the fourth time in the last fifteen minutes that Hisana had had to clear her throat. It was starting to worry him, especially in light of the fact that Hisana had woken up last night due to a fit of dry, hacking coughs. He'd almost picked the small woman up and gone straight to Lieutenant Kotetsu of Squad Four, but Hisana had forcibly insisted that it was just allergies and that she was perfectly fine. Hisana hadn't had a bout of coughing since then, but her wheezing was starting to concern him.

"Byakuya?" he heard his wife say to him, sounding like she had repeated herself. Hmm? Had he been that distracted?

"I'm sorry, my love," he said. "My mind was wandering. What is it?"

"You don't usually get distracted, sweetheart," Hisana noted with a grin. "But I was asking, what do you think about my sister and Renji?"

Eh? "I'm sorry, I don't understand." Well, partly true. He had an _idea_ where Hisana might be going with this, but only a guess.

Hisana burst out laughing. "Byakuya! You always get like that whenever I ask you about this. Usually you make up some excuse about Soul Reaper business you have urgent need to attend to, but that won't work this time."

Had Hisana been waiting for one of his off days for this? It boggled the mind, almost. "Well... Hisana, I just remembered there was some correspondence I need to—"

"Don't you dare, Byakuya," his wife warned.

He stopped talking as his wife gave him a look of mock indignation. Then he starting chuckling himself. Hisana again began to giggle, and he and his wife spent the next few seconds trying to stop.

After he got himself under control—it was good to laugh once and while, honestly—he looked to Hisana. "I honestly don't know, my love. And, to tell the truth, I doubt Rukia and Renji really know, either." He cocked an eyebrow. "Why are you interested, if I may ask?"

"I suppose it's every elder sisters' lot in life to wonder if their younger sibling is happy. Besides, women _always_ ask these kind of questions."

They both shared a laugh again. When they regained their composure—he almost did this _too_ much when he was alone with Hisana—he saw that his wife looked a bit somber, almost melancholy.

"Hisana?"

"Ah. Well, I know Rukia and Renji grew up together in the Inuzuri district, and I've always wondered about that. I think about how Rukia had to grow up by herself and—" Hisana's voice trailed off.

He'd been wrong. _Now_ he knew what was troubling Hisana. "Hisana, you had no choice. And Rukia has never expressed anger or resentment for you being forced to choose what you had to choose."

He heard his wife give a humorless chuckle. "Perhaps. I still need to talk to Rukia about it. She's been living with us for almost twenty years now, and I still can't gather the courage to speak with her about this. I am a coward."

He stopped walking, turned, and took his wife's shoulder firmly in his hands. He looked deep into her eyes, making sure his expression showed how much he cared for her. "Hisana, you are nothing of the sort. When the time is right, you and Rukia will talk about it. I know you will. What happened was a painful decision and a terrible experience. Men with lesser troubles have gone to their graves without ever confronting whatever it was that tormented them, and I have full faith that you and Rukia will find the time and the place to speak of this."

He punctuated that by leaning down and giving Hisana a light peck on the lips.

His wife looked back up at him as he straightened up, and he could see Hisana's love for him sparkling in her eyes. Hopefully Hisana could see a fraction of how much he cared for her in his own face.

"Byakuya, I—" Hisana began to say, then stopped. He frowned. His wife expression had changed to a distressed look. He could just barely see a vein on the side of Hisana's neck start to throb.

"What is—" he began to ask.

And then Hisana doubled over, hacking. It wasn't the dry, rasping coughs from last night, but wet, whooping ones. His wife sank to her knees, hands to her mouth as she was wracked with more convulsions.

That frightened him. He knelt down and tried to comfort Hisana.

"Hisana, what can I—"

And then it suddenly stopped. Was it over? He was definitely going to see the physicians about—

He froze. Hisana had lowered her hands from her mouth, wet with bloody phlegm. His eyes widened.

"Byakuya..." his wife murmured to him faintly before collapsing into his arms.

Panic. He felt panic reaching into his mind, preventing his brain from working correctly. He had to take action, damn it all. Had to... had to...

He wrapped Hisana in his arms as he gathered his reishi to himself and flash-stepped towards the Squad Four barracks.

* * *

Yenni Laiggs grimaced as she felt the spiritual energy signatures of a Soul Reaper patrol moving past her position. She sidled deeper into the tree she was perched on, making sure to keep the leafy summer branches between her and the eyes of the Soul Reapers. She peeked out carefully. Hmm. Only three of them.

Fight/run/kill/eat them eat them...

No. Dammit. Them again. She forced down the gibbering voices of the other Hollows that comprised her body, that of an Adjuchas-class Arrancar. It was nice to be this powerful, and to have her own mind steering this body, but the other three dozen or so Hollow minds subjugated by her own sometimes annoyed the piss out of her. Sometimes she thought about how nice it would be just to have her own mind sharing her mental real estate, but then she remembered she'd be regular old pissant Hollow without them. Cannibalism, hurray.

In any case, she was sure she could take out those three without any worries, but those weren't the orders. Dordonii, her old Espada leader, had been pretty dang adamant that this was purely reconnaissance. Of course, there was also a chance that someone in the Rukon district place thingy would notice her. Not good.

She sighed. What a drag.

The three Soul Reapers passed by her without noticing. She made sure they far away from her before deploying the creepy-eyes. Looked far enough. Yep.

She reached into the pack strapped to her back and withdrew four little balls each about a third the size of her fist. She shook them before tossing them out towards the ground. Once they hit the creepy-eyes blended in with some kind of camouflage mechanism and started rolling towards the Seireitei gates. If she hadn't known to look for them she would have no idea the balls were even there.

Attack/kill/eat/consume...

Oh, shut up.

They weren't really called creepy-eyes. Just a name she made up. Szayel Aporro Granz, the somewhat disturbing Fracciòn of the somewhat disturbing Cuarto Espada Nnoitra Jiruga, had made the little things, under the direction of Intelligence Specialist Ise. The _real_ name of the machine—well, they were actually partially organic—was long, confusing, and just plain annoying to say. Hence, creepy-eyes. Since, you know, they were eyes and crept around.

Eh, whatever. Job to do and all that. She again reached into the pack and withdrew a flat, rectangular object the size of her hand. She tapped a button and a screen on the device flared to life, showing a incredibly clear image of a Seireitei gate. Looked like the West one, with that big ape-looking Jidanbo gatekeeper person standing by the entrance and looking mean. The creepy-eye rolled past without the Soul Reaper noticing. She tapped the screen, toggling between the four machines and controlling them.

Now, time to see what was up in the secret life of Soul Reapers.

* * *

"Rukia, could you hand me the patrol log from last week, please?" Kaien said to the petite Soul Reaper.

"Right." A second later a roll of paper was slapped into his palm. He unfastened the clasp, unrolled it, and looked over the information. Damn. With their ranks spread so thin trying to cover for the four turncoats—a captain on patrol was equal to a _lot_ of unseated men—Squad Thirteen was getting worked to the bone.

Nothing they could do about it really. Besides, they couldn't complain, not when you realized the mess Squad Eight had to deal with. He grimaced and copied some of the numbers to a different sheet of parchment. He'd have to talk to someone, probably Captain Kuchiki or Captain Ichimaru, about borrowing some troops. He'd ask Captain Kurosutchi, but he'd rather not have his subordinates blow up in his face.

He almost shivered. It was hard to believe that Captain Yamamoto had done nothing more than verbally reprimand the Squad Twelve captain. From what he'd heard Captain Tosen had personally demanded that Kurotsuchi be re-imprisoned in the Maggot's Nest for the illegal experimentation.

Still... taking another captain out of the picture would be nothing short of idiotic, which was probably what Head Captain Yamamoto was also thinking. Didn't make it any easier to swallow.

It was almost too much to imagine. Unlike Captain Kurotsuchi, he _cared_ for the people under his command, and so had Captain Ukitake, which—

He closed his eyes and massaged his forehead with his knuckles. Had to stop thinking about Ukitake.

He felt a hand on his arm. Rukia.

"Lieutenant Shiba? You okay?"

Well, not really, but he didn't need Rukia to worry about that. "I'm good." He gently took Rukia's hand and moved it from his arm. He noticed the other Soul Reaper's face had flushed ever so slightly.

He also noticed that his heart had beat a little bit faster than usual. Eh. Time to think about something else.

He blew on the freshly-drawn paper to dry the ink before rolling it up. One down, thirty-two more to go. He was drowning in administrative paperwork. How did the captains manage it all? That was a captain's true power. It wasn't a bankai, or mastery of flash-steps or kido... it was mastery of _endless paperwork_!

"So, logs from the week before, or supply paperwork?" Rukia asked him.

"We'd better finish up the patrol logs or we'll get distracted."

"Okay."

Out of the corner of his eye he saw the woman had unrolled another scroll and was transcribing information to another spreadsheet. Working like this, doing simple tasks together while birds chirped outside, reminded of the time he and Miyako had helped Captain Ukitake with filing away the documents.

"Lieutenant?"

He jerked. "Hmm?"

"You're staring at me."

He blinked. Uh. "You were staring at me first."

"I was not!"

"Don't lie to your superior officer."

Rukia opened her mouth to say something else, but all that came out was a giggle. That set _him_ off, and they wasted a minute of their life trying to stop.

"Come on," he said lightly as he regained his composure, "these forms won't fill out themselves."

"I still say it was your fault Kaien, but you'd pull rank on me again. It's real unfair how—" Rukia stopped, and a moment later he saw her mouth drop open. "Lieutenant! I'm sorry, I didn't mean to say—"

"It's all right," he said suddenly, cutting off the other Soul Reaper. "If it's just us, 'Kaien' is fine." Why had he said that? He didn't like it when he blurted random things from his mouth. Yeesh. He was a lieutenant, for crying out loud. He couldn't get careless, even if it was Rukia.

Rukia just stared at him. Strange look in the woman's eyes, too. "Lieutenant—_Kaien_—I've wanted to tell you—"

There was a crash as the door banged open.

He turned to glare at the man who had entered. Looked like a Squad Four medical officer.

"Seventh Seat," he growled, "has it ever occurred to you to _knock_ before—"

"My apologies, Lieutenant," the Soul Reaper said hurriedly. The way that the seated officer had just brushed off his rebuke to keep on talking didn't bode well. "I have an urgent message for Rukia Kuchiki, straight from Captain Byakuya Kuchiki."

He shot a glance at Rukia. The woman looked as confused as he was. "Continue, Seventh Seat."

"Sir. I have to report that Hisana Kuchiki has been taken ill and is under care of Lieutenant Kotetsu and Sixth Seat Yamada of Squad Four."

"How is she doing?" Rukia snapped. He could hear the woman's voice cracking with what could only be anxiety.

"Her condition is critical, ma'am. We—"

There was the sound of rushing wind, and Rukia was gone. Flash-step. Dammit.

"That's good enough, Seventh Seat," he said quickly, dropping the scroll he was working on. "I'll go to Squad Four's headquarters myself."

And then he flash-stepped out of the room, following Rukia.

* * *

"In retrospect, I should have had someone with Starrk's or Gantenbainne's disposition following that Vasto Lorde, not someone like Luppi," Retsu said to Shunsui and Jushiro.

"Eh, the medics say they can reattach his legs," Shunsui said with a shrug.

She nodded. It had almost turned into a complete mess when Luppi had been too... _forceful_ in convincing the Vasto Lorde-class Menos to make a visit to Las Noches. Luckily, Gantenbainne Mosqueda and Coyote Starrk had managed to subdue the Vasto Lorde before the Octavo Espada had lost any more limbs.

It was shocking that a Vasto Lorde could cause such grievous damage to an Espada-level Arrancar. Yes, while a Vasto Lorde was higher up on the food chain than an Adjuchas like Luppi, the Octavo Espada was an Arrancar. In any event, it just proved that even a Hollow with its mask fully intact could be strong.

_Very_ strong. Luppi wouldn't be walking for at least a week.

"In any case, we managed to drag him back to Las Noches," she heard Jushiro say. "What's out next course of action?"

"Well, I talk to him, of course."

She almost laughed at the two Soul Reaper's look of consternation.

"Unohana," Jushiro said to her, "you can't seriously be thinking—"

"I am. After all, if this one is at an Espada's level of strength while fully retaining his mask, imagine what would happen once we _remove_ that mask."

"That's _exactly_ why it shouldn't be you doing the talking," Shunsui said, shaking his head. "Jushiro and I can handle this. And I guess lil'Nanao—ahem, Specialist Ise—can be there, too. Or Nelliel. Or Dordonii. Or just about anyone else."

She chuckled. "Shunsui, Jushiro, do I _really_ look that frail?"

Shunsui, ever the flamboyant one, gave a protracted sigh. "You have a point. But I'm going to have Nanao observe you both, and Jushiro and I will be one room over."

She sighed. "If you insist." With that she turned away from the other two former captains and headed towards the "guest room"—more of a holding cell, really—that held the Vasto Lorde that Nelliel and Nnoitra had first found. If this Hollow proved receptive to her offer, the Seireitei would not have long left...


	9. Chapter 6: Guest

**_DOWNFALL_**

By

Gregory Wong

* * *

**Chapter 6: Guest**

* * *

Nelliel rapped her knuckles on the door. "Lunch!" she called out cheerfully.

There was the sound of grumbling, and the door slid open to reveal a hulking Arrancar whose mask remnants looked like massive jaws on his face. One of her Fracciòn, Dondachakka Bilstin. Dondachakka looked like he had just woken up.

Dondachakka was also stark naked.

"Lunch. And pants. Please."

"It's not even eleven," grumbled the large Arrancar. "That's _breakfast_, Mistress Nel."

"_Pants_."

"Right, right. Want me to get Pesche up for 'lunch,' or..."

"I'll do it, Dondachakka. I'd rather have a Gillian step on me than have one of my Fracciòn seen galumphing around Las Noches in the nude."

"Heh. I'll be out in a second." The door slid closed.

She snorted and moved down the hall a few yards, to Pesche Gautiche's living quarters. Hopefully her other Fracciòn was at least presentable when he answered the door. She was going to need to talk to Dondachakka about sleeping habits. Namely pajamas. Eek.

She knocked. "Pesche! Lunch!"

This time the door opened swiftly. Her other Fracciòn, a tall, slim Arraccar with an insectoid mask fragment, tumbled out to the floor, thankfully fully clothed. A bronze statue shaped like giraffe would have tipped over onto Pesche if she hadn't sidestepped it and stopped it with a hand.

Wait. Bronze giraffe?

"First," she said to her subordinate, "are you all right? Second, _what_ in the world is this thing?"

"I'm good. And, er, I don't remember where it came from. I did find out, however, that certain types of Hueco Mundo cacti have juices that can intoxicate an Arrancar."

Really, now? She made an exasperated noise and, with a little nudge, tossed the giraffe back into Pesche's room. There was clanging as the giraffe hit other metal objects inside the chamber.

She did _not_ want to know. She watched Pesche pick himself off the floor and dust himself off, which made her grin slightly. While Pesche was very adept with Sonìdo and a very graceful swordsman, the male Arrancar was a bit... klutzy when not engaged in combat.

"By the way, isn't it a little too early for lunch?"

She sighed.

* * *

"I don't like him," Nnoitra said to Dordonii. The two of them, plus his Fracciòn Tesla, were making their way to the area where the new Vasto Lorde was being held. He and the Segundo Espada had nothing to do, and he wanted to see what Lady Unohana would do with the newcomer.

"You don't like _any_ newcomers, especially the ones that later became Espada," Dordonii retorted. "I remember you hated Starrk when he first showed up. Oh, and Rudobon. And _Señorita_ Tia. And Luppi."

"You don't care much for Luppi, either."

He grimaced as Dordonii gave a theatric laugh. "Bah! That is water under the bridge, _mi amigo_!"

Wait, what? "Water under the bridge?" he said. "That's not how that expression is used."

Another boisterous laugh. "Ha ha! It does not matter! What counts is the meanings behind the words!"

And now he was even more confused. It wasn't helping that Dordonii was the type who could only talk in exclamation points.

As he and the others were coming to an intersection, he heard another set of footsteps approaching. Eh. Idly, he brushed his fingers against the wall, sending a Pesquisa probe towards the unseen figures. Three. One with great spiritual pressure, the other with slightly less, and the third with far less. Hmm. He turned the corner.

Guess had been right. It was Starrk and his two Fracciònes, Lillynette and Yammy. The three looked like there were heading the same way he, Dordonii, and Tesla were.

"Where are you three going?" he challenged.

"Holding area," Starrk replied. "I was one of the ones to subdue the Hollow, so I want to give Lady Unohana a full debriefing before she speaks with him."

He grunted and waved the explanation off. "If you want to waste your time like that, fine by me." He started towards the holding area again.

He glanced behind him. Dordonii had apparently trapped Starrk in a pointless conversation. Only Tesla was following them, since Starrk didn't seem to want to just ignore Dordonii. Yech.

"Sometimes I can't decide whether I like Dordonii or detest him," he said to his Fracciòn.

"Perhaps both, Master Nnoitra" Tesla replied. "I do suppose you'd tend to hate him when he starts making inane non sequiturs. I do find when he's serious he's not unpleasant to speak to."

He made a noncommittal noise and kept walking. Tesla kept on talking.

"At least, Master Nnoitra, you didn't try to make your displeasure apparent. I do notice that you haven't been doing much of that since Nelliel—"

Kill/rip/tear.

He wanted to.. but no.

He wheeled on Tesla and grabbed the front of the Numerò's jacket. "I think that's enough, Tesla." He lowered his face so his and the shorter Arrancar's were a few centimeters apart. "I _really_ think that's enough."

"Yes, Master," Tesla said to him faintly.

He dropped the Fracciòn, and, without another word, continued walking towards the holding cell.

He frowned. Why was it every time that damnable Nelliel's name was mentioned he ended up getting angry—well, angri_er_?

It was almost aggravating how the Primera Espada treated him. _Teaching_ him, of all things. Trying to get him to conform to silly, thoroughly non-Hollow concepts like respect, or restraint, or control. And Nelliel would do this by being utterly polite and gentle... until he went past some predetermined boundary, whereupon the woman would punch him across the room.

This was _not_ how Hollows were supposed to act, damn it all.

Worst of all, Nelliel _was_ changing him. Tesla had been right. Had it been a year ago, he would have snapped at Dordonii—disparity in their power notwithstanding—and attempted to stop the Segundo Espada's blabbering by force. Now, he just made an annoyed sound and moved on. And a year ago, the fact that two women were ranked higher than him—and thus implied to be more powerful—would have driven him blind with rage. Now, he didn't much care.

Deep down, he knew he _should_ care about something like that, _should_ be responding to things that displeased him with violence... but now what was innately deep down didn't come to the surface.

It was so utterly aggravating.

* * *

"What is your name?" Retsu asked the Vasto Lorde politely.

"Your Arrancar lackeys have dragged me by force to this place. I am no under no obligation to tell you anything."

She almost sighed. She was going to have a very long talk with Luppi about self-control and general subtlety after the Espada got out of the infirmary. This could have been avoided if, say, Gantenbainne had been allowed to respectfully request the Vasto Lorde's presence in Las Noches.

In any case, she had to work with what she had.

"I sincerely apologize for the manner in which you were treated. The Arrancar who started the altercation with you will be reprimanded. The two others who subdued you did so under my orders, yes, but only because of the first's... _mistake_."

"Of course you would say that the little effeminate insect who had the gall to threaten me was not acting on your orders, _Soul Reaper_." The Hollow said the word like a curse. "Even now I question why any self-respecting Hollow hasn't eaten you already." With that last word, the Vasto Lorde let out a wave of spiritual pressure.

She cocked her head slightly and took a closer look at the Vasto Lorde. The energy it was releasing as a threat display—there no was no doubt that the wave of reishi emanating from the Menos was anything but—wasn't insubstantial.

Add that to the fact that the Hollow seemed very intelligent—while ultimately incorrect, it was not at all unreasonable for the Vasto Lorde to think she was falsely distancing herself from Luppi—and it would prove a challenge to convince this Menos to join her ranks.

"They have not because they _cannot_," replied, and released reishi of her own. Her spiritual pressure and the Vasto Lorde's clashed fiercely before the Hollow's quailed and ceased. She had a strong feeling that the Vasto Lorde had not released more than a pittance of his energy and had done so in an attempt to gauge her power. Crafty, indeed.

"So, you have power," the Menos admitted. "One explanation, I suppose, on how are you able to be still drawing breath while in Hueco Mundo." The Hollow focused its lavender eyes on her. "You have my tentative respect. What is it you want from me?"

She smiled. "Well, I did ask for your name, but I realize that it's rude for me to demand that from you, what with you having been brought here at my behest. I am Retsu Unohana, formerly captain of the Thirteen Court Guard Squads of the Soul Society's Seireitei."

"Formerly, you say. What are you, now?"

She locked eyes with the Hollow. "I am the one who will bring about the destruction of the Thirteen Court Guard Squads."

* * *

"This is quite interesting to watch," Nanao heard Kyoraku muse from behind her back. "Unohana is trying to verbally outmaneuver him."

"As long as the Vasto Lorde does not attempt to _physically_ outmaneuver her, there won't be a problem," she heard Rudobon, Noveno Espada, say.

She looked away from the monitor and stole a glance at the Arrancar. Not only was Rudobon a member of the Espada, but the taciturn, ruthless Arrancar was also chief of internal security in Las Noches. It helped that Rudobon had a literally endless supply of "security agents," the Calaveras.

The Exequias commander was very protective of Unohana, almost as much as Kyoraku and Ukitake were. The Espada was grateful of the immense power he had received when Unohana had made Rudobon an Arrancar.

All of which explained why no less than three dozen Exequias were cramming the room adjacent to the chamber where Unohana was speaking with the Vasto Lorde. Adding to that, Kyoraku, Ukitake, Starrk, Nnoitra, Dordonii, plus some of the Fracciòn, were there, too. Yes, yes, Unohana could put the Menos down, but it wouldn't change the fact that a _lot_ of spiritually powerful entities would dogpile the newcomer at the drop of a hat.

Eh. She moved her hand along the control panel and brought up a different angle. Another button and now there was an unobtrusive on-screen graph that acted as a gauge for the spiritual pressure of Unohana and the Vasto Lorde. Looked like the two of them were keeping it down for the time being.

"I would call that a lie, if not for the seriousness in your eyes and steel in your voice," the Vasto Lorde said to Unohana. "What had brought about this rather jarring change in perspective?"

"It is only way for the Soul Society to remain safe."

She watched the monitor closely to see how the Hollow would react to Unohana's words.

To be honest, she hadn't been sure how to take Unohana's words when she'd been first told of the uprising by Kyoraku. It had sounded insane, really, and she'd seriously considered that the three defecting captains had been unbalanced. After hearing the entire story from Captain Kyoraku, though, she'd been convinced, at least enough for her to go with them to Hueco Mundo. And once they had had the time, Unohana had explained everything to her.

Ultimately, she was going to be at Captain Unohana's back, but she still had misgivings. She was sure Ukitake and Kyoraku had them, as well. It was a difficult thing to choose between your friends and comrades and the safety of the world you were charged with protecting.

There was nothing they could do about it, though. With the zealous traditionalists like Yamamoto running things, the Seireitei was going to keep on antagonizing Hueco Mundo until the world of the Hollows exploded outwards, destroying the Soul Society and all of the Wholes living there in the process.

She felt a hand on her shoulder. She stole a glance behind her. Captain Kyoraku. Concern was all over the old erSoul Reaper's face, just like whenever the captain offered a non-groping hand and an open ear whenever she had something on her mind.

How could what they were doing be wrong if someone like Kyoraku was a part of it? She briefly touched Kyoraku's fingers in acknowledgment before turning back to the monitor and readouts.

* * *

Yenni had to admit that Soul Reaper Captain Mayuri Kurotsuchi creeped the ever-loving crap out of her. The creepy-eyes had gotten an eyeful—pun intended—of the laboratory where the Soul Reaper worked and it wasn't... pretty. If it hadn't been some Soul Reapers and random animal being experimented on, she might even have felt bad. Well, whatever.

She rolled the remote device into a crevice in a dark corner of the facility and shut it down. Another quick look over the control board, and survey said all creepy-eyes were powered down and accounted for. Now, just let them recharge during the night and she could resume surveillance tomorrow.

All in all, nothing too eventful to report today. There was a lot of fuss going on about one captain's woman—who looked straight-up dying, to tell the truth—and she'd managed to drop in on some extraordinarily mundane staff meeting between the old bearded Soul Reaper guy and the other captains, but otherwise, nothing to report.

Except for that Captain Kreepysutchi. The guy was ramping up on Hollow-based research, using poor schmucks as test subjects. There was a lot of specialized weapon research going on in the lab, and tomorrow she was going to pull one of the roaming creepy-eyes and have it double up in the laboratory. Her boss was definitely going to want to take a look at that.

Boss. She wrinkled her nose. She'd liked being Dordonii's Fracciòn. Really. Eccentric Dordonii with the long and funny name who almost acted like that cool uncle people liked to be around. And then when Lady Unohana had announced that she was forming a special intelligence division under the command of Ise, Dordonii had recommended her immediately.

She had almost turned it down, but the Segundo Espada had convinced her to accept a position as an intelligence operative. And, okay, she _was_ good at being sneaky. At least when she wanted to. There was one time when the cactus juice—

The control pad vibrated. Huh. She tapped a button and the screen flared to life. A message? From Specialist Ise. Yay. She decrypted the memo and displayed it on the screen. Agent Laiggs, you were doing a good job with the regular data uploads, remember to stick to surveillance only, yada yada, and... wait, what the hell.

She frowned and stared at the screen.

_Begin local infiltration_, it said.

Infiltration? Fan-_freaking_-tastic.


	10. Chapter 7: Arrival

**_DOWNFALL_**

_**by**_

Gregory Wong

* * *

**Chapter 7: Arrival**

* * *

Byakuya jerked awake as a hand gently massaged his shoulder. Eh. He rubbed his eyes and took his head off the hospital bed, sitting up. Ah, Rukia.

"How is she?" his sister-in-law asked anxiously.

He turned to look back down at his wife, sleeping fitfully. A respirator mask was covering his wife's face, and there were IV lines in both of Hisana's arms. His wife was receiving high concentrations of oxygen to help compensate for her lungs, and the IV lines were introducing plasma and analgesics to help counteract blood loss whenever she had a coughing fit.

Analgesics. He made a face. The strain from the constant, coughing had caused damage to the lining of Hisana's throat, and it was excessively painful whenever the woman coughed.

He felt so... helpless.

He didn't like feeling helpless, more so when it involved the person he cared for more than anything else in the world.

"Not so well," he said grimly. "The doctors can't pin down what disease she has, and she'll start violently coughing every once in a while. She's been fine so far, but she just fell asleep before I did." He frowned. "What time is it, anyway?"

"It's ten in the morning," Rukia replied. "You should get some rest, brother. I'll stay."

He shook his head. "I'm fine."

"You don't look fine, Captain," he heard Renji say. Eh? He looked past Rukia and saw his lieutenant near the back wall. "Listen to you sister. You're not doing Lady Hisana any good by fatiguing yourself. Good morning, by the way."

"Ah, good morning, Lieutenant," he responded wearily.

"I was on my way here to see how Hisana was doing, and Renji kept me company."

"Well, I do have some reports for you, Captain, but yeah, I did keep Rukia company." Renji held up some sheaves of paper. "And all. Yeah."

That reminded him of the conversation he and his wife were having before Hisana fell ill. A smile briefly touched his lips. He did strongly suspect that Hisana would be overjoyed at the prospect of Renji and Rukia together.

"Well, I had better get going then," he said, standing. He looked at his sister. "Lieutenant Shiba won't be missing your presence, will he?"

"Oh, no. Kaien—er, _Lieutenant Shiba_—and I got most of the work filed away last night, and he said it was all right if I stayed with Hisana for the day, so yeah."

He almost raised an eyebrow at Rukia addressing the Squad Thirteen lieutenant so casually. Well, it mattered not.

"Very well, then," he said to his sister. "I'll be back before nightfall, Rukia."

"All _rested_, right?"

"I'll try."

* * *

Toshiro wondered if it would be noticeable if he scratched his lower back, where the scar there was starting to itch again. Damn thing was distracting. Ugh.

"And, as my experiments show," he heard Captain Kurotsuchi say, "deploying these special damping devices _should_ lower any given Hollow's reishi by a noticeable amount, including Arrancar."

"Is there anything more concrete than 'noticeable,' Captain Kurotsuchi?" he heard Soifon say. "Vague descriptions like that is what gets people killed."

"And here I thought that was because your special forces divisions weren't able to reliably predict enemy movement and screen deployment patterns."

He waited for Soifon to snap back at the Squad Twelve captain, but the small woman just glared briefly before looking away. Eh. This Captain's meeting was just as strained as usual. They were _all_ here, including Kenpachi Zaraki, but with the obvious exceptions of Squads Four, Eight, and Thirteen. Lieutenants Kotetsu and Shiba were representing their teams, while it looked like Third Seats Kiyone Kotetsu and Sentaro Kotsubaki were going to relay orders for Squad Eight.

"In any case, Captain Soifon does make a valid point, Captain Kurotsuchi," Captain Yamamoto said. "We need concrete information if we are going to use your weapons."

He definitely agreed with the Head Captain on that. He hated to rush into things, _especially_ since he knew it was his personal weakness. Like when he'd found Momo in the Central Forty-Six Chamber, and he'd become so blinded with rage that he had been easy pickings for Unohana.

He hoped he could grow past that. Right now it would only serve to get his comrades and subordinates killed.

"That being said," he heard the Head Captain say, "I am giving the order to move the Seireitei to a wartime footing. We must begin deploying our defense forces and spreading the Patrol Corps to cover areas outlying the Rukongai districts. The Punishment Force and Squad Two will also act as skirmishers and rapid-reaction detachments in the same area. Captain Soifon, if you please."

"Sir." And with a slight bow and blur of a flash-step, the Squad Two captain was gone.

"Captain Zaraki, Captain Kuchiki, Captain Komamura, and Captain Tosen, your squads will be the first line of defense and directly responsible for the integrity of the Seireitei wall and its gates, along with the gatekeepers. Go, now."

Three of the captains uttered affirmatives before flash-stepping away. He noticed that Captain Kuchiki's departure was a little more sluggish than usual. Hmm. The man _had_ looked tired. Must be because of the wife.

He heard the wild-looking captain of Squad Eleven make a displeased grunt. "I'd rather be the first line of _attack_, but whatever." Zaraki shrugged and sauntered out of the meeting room.

Huh. He hoped Zaraki wouldn't compromise their defensive plans when he charged headlong into a fray with that squad of maniacs at his back. Well, he did have to give Captain Zaraki credit: the man was _good_ at mayhem.

"Captain Ichimaru and Lieutenant Shiba," Yamamoto continued, "your divisions will serve as support units for the front line units. When any of them become heavily engaged, you will arrive on scene and provide support as well as evaluating the severity of the engagement. At your discretion you can call for additional reinforcements from the other main battle squads or support squads. Third Seats Kotetsu and Kotsubaki, please relay these same orders to Squad Eight. Dismissed."

There were four "yes sirs" and four sounds of rushing wind.

"Captain Kurosutchi, Lieutenant Kotetsu, you will both be in charge of logistics and medical relief." He blinked. Wait, did the Head Captain _really_ want Kurotsuchi helping with medical? "Oh, and Captain Kurotsuchi," he heard Captain Yamamoto add, "If you attempt to experiment on any of the injured, I _will_ exact a harsh punishment."

He heard the Squad Twelve captain grumble something before he and Kotetsu also departed. Just him and Aizen were left.

"And lastly, Captains Aizen and Hitsugaya, I am going to be employing your troops in tactical operations, including indentifying and sealing points of entry from Heuco Mundo as well as carrying out assaults on enemy weak points should they arise." He watched the Head-Captain look back and forth between them. "Furthermore, you will interpret and analyze any raw data that Captain Soifon's troops gather and share your evaluations with the personnel you deem best suited to know. That will be all."

Hmm. That was an assignment he had no problem with. Worked with his mindset, anyway. Also, he was sure Captain Aizen was as just as analytically inclined as he was. He gave a respectful nod to the Head Captain and gathered up reishi to flash-step.

And then a hand on his shoulder stopped him. Aizen.

"If you don't mind, I'd like to speak with you outside."

"Sure." He was pretty sure he knew what the conversation was going to be about.

He met Aizen outside. They started traveling towards the medical facility where Momo was being cared for.

"I suppose you're going to be my watchdog, Captain," he heard the older captain say to him bemusedly.

Wait, what? He frowned. This wasn't what he had thought Aizen would be talking about. "What do you mean?"

The older captain chuckled, but it sounded flat. "You _do_ know that Yamamoto has never really trusted me, yes?"

He cocked his head and looked at Aizen. "I was not aware of that. Why would you think so?"

"What do you know about _Kyoka Suigetsu_?"

Odd question. "It's a running-water type Zanpakuto with the ability to use the diffused reflections of mist to confuse enemies into attacking each other."

"That's... not true."

He looked up sharply at the other Soul Reaper. "Explain."

Aizen didn't say anything for a few moments. Then, "_Kyoka Suigetsu_'s true release ability isn't the generation of illusions. Its real power is complete sensory hypnosis."

He thought about that for a moment. "You can control my senses?" Aizen didn't reply, and they walked on. Wait a moment, if... "I can see why the Head Captain would have reservations about you, Captain."

"Indeed. Because of the nature of being a Soul Reaper, pretty much everyone has seen my release, which means they are under my influence whenever I release the sword again." He noticed that Aizen's eyes had taken on a distant look. "I could, with a little cleverness, convince everyone that Yamamoto has gone senile, and that he needs to be replaced. Or I could hide assassins as they snuck into your barracks. Or I could make it seem that Captains Ichimaru, Tosen, and I are the real traitors. Or I could make everyone decide that vanilla ice cream taste likes dirt and that chocolate flavor is the best."

"Then why don't you?" he asked Aizen quietly.

"I have my reasons."

"Then why keep it concealed from the rest of us? From what you have said, I assume Captain Yamamoto knows about it."

"He did, and so did a handful of other captains. When I was a Third Seat, my captain, Shinji Hirako, was always keeping tabs on me. Nice enough man, and he was only doing so under orders, but still. I suppose Yamamoto never revealed my power since it would cause some undue paranoia."

That name sounded familiar. "Hirako, Hirako," he muttered to himself. Then, out loud, "The Squad Five captain who was Hollowfied a century ago?"

"The same. Though in light of current events I doubt he did so intentionally."

He grunted. "I do wonder, why do you think Yamamoto would assign me to keep watch on you? Seems abrupt when no one has been watching you since..." He trailed off. "Since before your mentors defected."

"Precisely. I can't blame Yamamoto's caution."

"But you don't care for it."

"That goes without saying. Please, don't take it personally."

"I won't."

Something still bothered him, though. "I still wonder, though, why you think I was selected to keep watch on you. There are more experienced captains who would be more fitting."

He saw Aizen shake his head. "Well, for one, you and I have the same duties as tactical squadrons, so we'll be working closely with each other. Second, while you're the youngest captain, your spiritual energy is more powerful than someone with decades of experience... and it keeps growing. Third... you don't know me very well."

"Eh?"

"The other captains know me, trust me, which could cause fatal hesitation on their parts. You haven't known me for nearly as long. If I started acting treasonously, you wouldn't hesitate to strike me down."

He didn't reply to that. It was too... morbid. And, even though Aizen's expression hardly changed, he could tell that the older captain was a bit uncomfortable, as well.

"Perhaps a change of subject would be best," he heard the Squad Five leader say. "How is Lieutenant Hinamori doing?"

Well, it was something different to talk about. "She's doing better from what the doctors have been saying. They tell me they're getting more active brain activity from her, so she's not getting any worse."

Aizen nodded to him. "That's good, then. I haven't had time to visit her in the past few days, so I haven't heard much news. Hell butterflies can only pass on so much."

"That's completely understandable. You've been handling the administrative duties of your own squad by yourself, plus I hear you volunteer to help with Squad Eight and Thirteen."

He had a hunch as to why, at least. He knew that Captain Aizen was the protégé of Ukitake and Kyoraku, and he more than likely shared the pain that the soldiers of Squads Eight and Thirteen were feeling. He was also sure the man hadn't completely forgiven himself for what had happened to Momo. Huh. Captain Sosuke Aizen had quite a bit of emotional turmoil going on, despite the amiable expression the other man always had.

"Still, I should be able to set aside a few hours at least to stay by her side. You are able to do so, Captain Hitsugaya."

"Yes, but remember I have my lieutenant to aid me. You don't have that luxury."

Aizen didn't look convinced at that. Eh. Change the subject, then. To what, though? Most of the things on his mind would eventually lead back to... he frowned.

"I just noticed right now," he said, "you're limping." He had almost missed it, it was so slight, but the more he looked the more he saw the arrhythmic cadence in the older Captain's gait.

Aizen grunted. "_Minazuki_ nicked my spinal cord, or so the physicians tell me. It'll be a while—if ever—before my left leg goes back to before the attack. I almost have full mobility with it, so I'm not worrying about executing my duties."

"If you say so." He was almost sure that the higher-level Squad Four healers could fix the nerve damage, given enough time, but he suspected that Aizen had declined. As for the _why_ to that decision, he also had a good guess.

It stilled puzzled him as to why Aizen still held on to his guilt. A man as intelligent as the Squad Five captain would easily see that he was not at fault. He'd read the reports. The three rogue captains had laughed off the best four captains and two lieutenants could throw at them. Why did Aizen feel he should shoulder any guilt? It almost infuriated him.

But... he wondered how _he_ would have reacted if it was _Hyorinmaru_ that had been run through Momo and not _Kyoka Suigetsu_. Well, he'd never know for sure, but he had a feeling in the pit of his stomach that he wouldn't be like Aizen. He'd be worse.

He'd let that rage that had consumed him back in the Chambers run wild... but this time directed not at Unohana or Ukitake or Kyoraku, but at _himself_. He'd like to think he'd be able to live with that... but if he was honest himself he knew it would change him forever.

Of course, _that_ would eventually lead Rangiku to hugging him—complete with squashing her breasts around his head—to cure his "grumpiness", whereupon that almost inappropriate embrace would annoy him even more.

He snorted.

"Hmm?"

"Oh, nothing," he said to Aizen. He walked a little further with the Squad Five captain, silently. Soon they were at the medical center. It looked like Aizen has hesitated for a moment.

"I'll stay over for the night, Captain Hitsugaya. I'm assuming you're going to be here for the better part of the day?"

"Yes." His back was starting to itch again. He scratched.

"Watch over her. Thank you."

And then the other captain was gone in a rush of reishi. He shook his head. One of these days he had to try to figure that other Soul Reaper out.

But after he stayed with Momo.

* * *

Yenni sniffed as she reached behind her head to undo the knot of her antennae. They were part of her mask remnants, just like the spiky circlet that went around the forward half of her head, just below her hairline.

She loosened the knot and her hair fell out of the ponytail she usually kept it in. Yech. She didn't like her hair all over the place like this, but it was either this or walking around the Soul Society with her Hollow mask out in the open. This way her—frankly messy—hair would cover up the circlet portion while she could weave the antennae into something that looked fancy. Or stupid. Same thing.

Whatever. She just tied them behind her head, underneath her hair. That done, she stripped out of her Hueco Mundo uniform and retrieved a raggedy outfit she'd managed to steal in the dead of night from one of the outlying districts. The smell of Wholes on the clothes—

Eat/devour/consume

—made her a tad bit... hungry, but it wasn't anything major. Besides, Specialist Ise—hell, _everyone_—would have a cow if she ate a Whole on a espionage assignment. She'd gotten over that, anyway. Hollows were tastier. Spicy. Yeah.

She pulled the hood on the cloak over her head. He mask fragments were well hidden by her eternal bed-hair, but why take chances? That's something a spy shouldn't do.

Her zanpakuto, where the majority of her spiritual power was stored, was strapped on her back vertically, slightly offset to the right with the hilt pointing downwards. It was carefully hidden behind the cloak, but she rubbed some dirt on it anyway so any dumb Whole who saw it would write it off as a beaten up mundane sword, not a zanpakuto.

Lastly, she focused and sealed off her spiritual pressure. For one thing, she had fairly strong reishi, even when compared to Soul Reapers. Second, she had an _Arrancar_'s energy signature, which would freak any of the Soul Society denizens who detected it.

Her ability to do this was pretty rare as far as Hollows went, and it was one of the main reasons why Dordonii had recommended her to Ise. That and she was the dammed master of obfuscating stupidity. Well, usually. She _did_ do silly things all the time.

But anyway, duty called.

She nonchalantly stepped out from the thicket she'd been crouching behind, whistling. She'd have to infiltrate by going through the outermost Rukon districts and working her way in. It might be a bit difficult considering most of the crazies lived in these areas, but they were only Wholes, after all. Or Soul Reapers that had yet to make the grade. Or were too bughouse nuts to be allowed into the Seireitei.

According to her briefings, The captain of the Eleventh Squad had come from the Eightieth District. Okay, scary thought. Had to be careful.

She approached the collection of run-down huts and headed east, towards the Seireitei. She didn't look back at any of the Wholes that stared at her as she passed. Act confident, act like she had a purpose, and no one was going to bug her.

"Hey, lady, where do you think you're going?" she heard as a hand clamped down on her shoulder.

Well, except the idiots.

"I'm going to the Seireitei to spy on it," she said honestly with a touch of irony. "Now piss off."

"You know, it's so sad to see such a nice-looking thing like you lie about _AHHH MY FINGER_!"

Yeah. The Whole's middle finger now had an extra joint in it after she'd moved her own hand. With a quick movement she latched her other hand onto the Whole's forearm and heaved the man over her shoulder. She was extra careful not to use her full strength, since even dummies like them would find something odd about her launching this guy's ass a full thirty feet. She settled on slamming him into the ground with a painful-sounding _thump_. On the ground, in front of her, she finally got a good luck at the Whole. Pudgy, but the man's arms looked muscled enough for her to know that he was probably one of the stronger people living here.

She looked back. People were staring at her. Okay, not good. People staring meant people remembering her face meant the possibility of Soul Reapers knowing about her rising up to dangerous levels. She started walking quickly away, ducking into an alleyway formed by a relatively neat line of shacks.

She continued weaving through streets and dark passageways for another half hour, until a sign told her she was entering the Seventy-Ninth District.

Great. If she had to do this crap another seventy-nine times she was going to lose it.

She was going to kick Dordonii—between the legs, see if she didn't!—for getting her mixed up in this.

* * *

Isane rubbed her eyes. Gritty. Yawning, she reached for the cup next to her and took a sip of tea. Hmm. Ick. Cold. Okay, no time to get sleepy. Keep working.

She took a deep breath before returning to the instruments that were running tests on Hisana Kuchiki's blood. The analyzer beeped, and a string of values popped up on the screen. Eh?

She left her desk and stepped over to the dozen or so large bookcases that were scattered over her former captain's office. Unohana had kept a _very_ expansive collection of medical journals and case studies. Her former captain had left her with something, at least, after betraying everyone. She sniffed. No, not going on that train of thought again.

Ah, there it was. She grabbed a book out and flipped through the pages as she walked back to her equipment. She sat back down and glanced back at the information displayed on the screen.

Hmm. It didn't look good. The data she was getting from the tests had results similar to tests from another patient several years back. That person had died a rapid death from a rampant, incurable wasting disease that had surfaced in the last two months of his life.

But something wasn't quite right, either. The hemoglobin was at a different concentration, for one, as was the fibrinogen in the plasma. Also elevated levels of histamines in Kuchiki's sample.

But except for this inconsistencies, it looked exactly like the case study. Which meant Hisana Kuchiki probably had a different form of the wasting illness, which was would explain the different data, which in turn would—

Damn. She closed her eyes and massaged her forehead. She couldn't be thinking like this or jumping to conclusions so hastily. She made the wrong decision, and it might make Lady Kuchiki's situation worse. She had to do this thoroughly and carefully.

She flipped a page, onto another case study. Her eyes widened.

It couldn't be!

* * *

Renji's hand dropped to the hilt of _Zabimaru_ as he heard a shout from just beyond the northern gate. Show time.

"Let's move!" he called to his team as he flash-stepped towards the gate. He got there just in time to see Danzomaru the gatekeeper lowering the barrier after allowing a woman dressed in Patrol Corps garb to enter.

"Report!" he called as he came near.

"Lieutenant Abarai!" the Patrol Corps scout called back. He saw that the woman was wounded. Damn. "My team encountered an Arrancar on the outskirts of North Rukon. She managed to critically wound one of our people, but the rest of them are preventing the Hollow from exfiltrating the area."

"Understood," he said. "Get treatment for that wound." He turned to his patrol team. "Tsubasa, send a dispatch to the Squad Four reaction teams. The rest of you, on me!" With a nod to Danzomaru the gate opened.

He gathered reishi to himself and flash-stepped towards to the north. He could vaguely hear cries of surprise as he blurred past the Rukongai citizens. He heard a few of them shout curses.

He came to a stop at the top of a hill, just outside the tree line of a forest on the borders. He could barely make out the forms of three Patrol Corps members moving swiftly back and forth, weapons drawn. A fourth member was lying prone a few yards off, with a fifth member keeping watch on the injured Soul Reaper. A sixth form, that of a woman clad in white, was in the middle of it all.

And then he felt it. Powerful spiritual pressure, and strange, too. It was like any old Hollow's... but not at the same time. He could feel traces of what was almost like a Soul Reaper's in the mix.

Arrancar.

He drew his sword, concentrating on its released form. Better to go for a silent release so he'd get a few precious seconds to sneak up on the Arrancar

Roar, Zabimaru. He flashed forward and flicked _Zabimaru_, the interlocking blade segments shooting forward on their tethers. The Arrancar—she looked just like any other brunette woman, but with what looked like half of a bone-white mask on one side of her face—apparently sensed it in time, because there was a blur and a booming noise as the blades of his released Zanpakuto hit dirt.

That been Sonìdo, one of the techniques he'd been briefed about.

Still, not fast enough for him. He was able to track the speeding Hollow as he flash-stepped in response to the Sonìdo, just enough so that he could adjust the arc of _Zabimaru_'s swing.

The tooth-like blades weaved through the trees, biting into the Arrancar, causing the Hollow to stumble to the ground, crying in pain. He flash-stepped to within a few feet of the injured Hollow, sword raised to strike. Maybe they could get the damned thing captured an interrogated. Would prove a hell of a lot more useful—

There was an angry screech from the Arrancar as she rose from ground, zanpakuto drawn.

Crap.

"Deafen—"

He flicked his zanpakuto forward.

"—_Esc_—Ack."

The Arrancar, with one of _Zabimaru_'s blades lodged in her head, toppled to the ground. As the body started to dissolve, he called his sword back and resealed it.

He felt a spiritual pressure and the sound of flash-step as his team—oh yeah, he'd left them behind in his rush to get here—finally reached the scene.

"Assist with the wounded," he ordered them. He let out his breath.

Eh? He'd been holding it? He shook his head and looked at the discorporating body of the Hollow. Damn thing looked human. It was a Hollow—hell, probably a Menos—but it looked so damned human. It was... creepy.

Well, he'd have something to think about tonight, anyway. He sheathed his zanpakuto and waited for the Squad Four medics to arrive.

This whole war with Hueco Mundo was going to be pretty damned ugly.


	11. Chapter 8: Calm

**_DOWNFALL_**

By

Greg Wong

* * *

**Chapter 8: Calm**

* * *

Nelliel grimaced as she read the report. Lila had been discovered and eliminated by the Soul Reapers. Not only had they lost a good reconnaissance agent, but now the Soul Reapers knew that Arrancar were able to enter the Soul Society while remaining undetected. The Thirteen Court Guard Squads' first reaction had been to increase the patrol units

The only bright spot in this was it looked like the Seireitei was unaware of the actual _number_ of scouts lurking on the outskirts of the Rukongai districts, as well as the several infiltrators that were actively penetrating the districts surrounding the Seireitei.

She sighed and leaned back in her chair, fingering one of the horns that was part of her mask remnants. Tended to do that when she was nervous or thinking. It was a nervous tic, like how Tia tapped her mask or Dordonii stroked his mustache. Or how Nnoitra grinned wider and wider. Speaking of the Cuarto Espada...

"Pesche, did you...?" she asked, looking over at her two Fracciònes who were themselves reading a copy of the report.

"Yes, Mistress Nel," the other Arrancar replied. "I had a messenger—"

There was a knock at the door.

"Well, then." Pesche stopped talking and went back to looking over the report.

"Enter!" she called out clearly to the person on the other side of the door.

It opened, and a tall, lanky, surly Arrancar with unkempt black hair entered her office. She gave a bright smile.

"I'm here," Nnoitra said to her, obviously ignoring her grin. "What do you want?"

She sighed inwardly before sitting back up. Nnoitra, Nnoitra, Nnoitra.

"I'm assuming you've already read the report Specialist Ise sent us all?"

"I know you're smart enough not to ask me a pointless question, so I'm not even going to answer that."

Out of the corner of her eye she saw Dondachakka and Pesche bristle at the remark, but they kept silent.

"You're right. I _should_ skip the superfluous questions. Instead, I'll ask what I was going to ask you: what do you suggest?"

"What?"

"What do you suggest?" she repeated. "With the situation."

Nnoitra's scowl deepened. "And _why_ would you be asking me this? I'll leave the planning and scheming to people like Ise. I'm here because I can kill things. I'm _ranked_ as I am because I'm good at it. This was a waste of time." Nnoitra turned to go without so much as a goodbye.

Had it been a year ago, Nnoitra wouldn't even have explained his reasoning; the other Espada would have just stormed out of the room. Hell, Nnoitra might have tried to provoke her into physical conflict. It was progress. Sort of.

"Is that what you think?" she said to the tall Hollow. The other Espada stopped abruptly before turning back to her. Heh. More improvement. The old Nnoitra would have kept on walking.

"Eh?"

"Those two things you said just now. Think they're true?"

"What are you talking about?"

She grinned crookedly. "Do you think that Lady Unohana and Lords Kyoraku and Ukitake could command a thousand Menos Grande and point them to something they want destroyed?"

"Sure. What—"

"Who do you think would come out the victor if these hypothetical Menos Grande were to face off against the ten Espada?"

Nnoitra started to answer her, but stopped mid-syllable. More progress. She strongly suspected the Cuarto Espada from not-so-long ago would have made some audacious declaration about how none could stand against the Espada, especially the mighty Nnoirtra Jiruga.

"The Gillians. Although nine hundred and ninety-nine wouldn't be moving around after this battle."

She nodded. "Granted," she conceded. She waited for Nnoitra to get what she was implying. Ah, there it was.

Nnoitra's visible eye narrowed. "I really don't like what you're implying, Nelliel. We're Hollows. We destroy, nothing more."

Her grin broadened. Excellent. "Yet my observation is no less valid. A thousand Gillians can cause far more destruction than the ten of us could, yet why do you think Las Noches is staffed by Arrancar and not Menos Grande?"

She waited, but the Cuarto Espada said nothing. Eh. Wasn't expecting Nnoitra to say it, anyway. She wouldn't have expected anyone, actually. "We are here, chosen by Lady Unohana, because we represent _more_ than the base instincts of Hollows." She leaned forward and clasped her hands together on her desk. "Maybe my opinions are different from the other Arrancar. Perhaps it's because I speak with Lady Unohana on a daily basis, as well as Lord Kyoraku and Lord Ukitake, but whatever the case may be, I believe we are able to rise above the things that make Hollows little more than animals.

"Arrancar and most high-level Adjuchas—and Vasto Lorde, of course—can be as intelligent and reasonable as any human or Soul Reaper. Which is why I think one reason Lady Unohana is doing what she's doing us because she wants to change the dynamics of Hueco Mundo and the definition of what a Hollow is."

"Insane," Nnoitra said to her with gritted teeth.

"I don't think so. I'll get back to that later. Your second remark from before, the one about how the Espada are ranked. I don't believe that either."

The other Espada glowered. "You think you don't deserve the top position, is it?"

She snorted. "Well, not to sound arrogant, but I _do_ think I'm qualified for my position. But let's look at the bigger picture. Actually, let's look at some specific examples that come to mind. Do you think Aaronerio, Rudobon, and Starrk deserve their positions if rank was based solely on combat power?"

Again Nnoitra didn't say anything. Her smile dropped as she turned her tone serious.

"Well, I don't. Aaroniero is a Gillian with the power to evolve infinitely and manifest the powers of whatever he's eaten. And he's eaten a _lot_ of Hollows. Rudobon can summon and control an endless supply of fairly strong warriors, not to mention he's pretty good with a blade in his own right. And Starrk... well, let's just say I think Starrk should be at the top, not the bottom."

She watched Nnoitra cock his head at her. "Fine, whatever. They're strong. So why isn't Starrk the leader of the Espada, and whatever else it is with Rudobon and Aaroniero?"

She quirked a grin. "Concerning Rudobon, he's very good at what he does, namely security and providing the main power behind any kind of assault. The problem with him is that he has the imagination of a brick and the charisma of a bronze statue I found in Pesche's room a few days back." She heard her Fracciònes snigger as she waved a hand to cut off Nnoitra's question. "Don't ask. But that is why Lady Unohana has him ranked so low. Aaroniero is... enigmatic, and despite being an Arrancar he's still ruled by a Hollow's hunger and instincts. Lady Unohana doesn't want him in a position of leadership—like us first four Espada, Nnoitra— but she recognizes his abilities as assets. Honestly, while he isn't all _that_ bad, I find him downright creepy, but that's a personal opinion, not a professional one."

"And Starrk?"

"Simple. Starrk didn't want the job."

"What? Then why in hell is he an Espada in the first place?"

"Do you know his story? How he was found and welcomed to Las Noches?"

"No."

"Well, that's something you can ask him about yourself. Or Lilynette. Same thing." She cleared her throat. "And now I'm going to go back to where I left off before we started on this tangent."

"What?"

"Lady Unohana wants to prevent the destruction of the Soul Society by Hueco Mundo."

"I know that already. And as long as I get to kill Soul Reapers she could wish to be fishmonger for all I care."

* * *

It was almost embarrassing. That remark he'd made about Lady Unohana had come out a lot less forcefully than he'd intended.

Nnoitra bit back a growl. The way he'd said it was in part about he felt about the whole thing. The implications that Lady Unohana was looking for something more than raw spiritual power was... confusing. And the very thought that Hollows could change from what they born as was just stupid.

Which was strange, since something in him almost believed the Primera Espada. Damn it. In hindsight, he _was_ acting differently than he had a few months ago. And that was annoying. He was Nnoitra Jiruga, Cuarto Espada, and while a woman like Nelliel had the power to best him in combat—that thought wasn't as aggravating as it used to be, ugh—_no one_ had the power to change his opinions.

But...

"Well, I don't think of it that way," Nelliel said to him. "But, in any case, Lady Unohana hopes to change us while changing how the Soul Society is run, which coincidentally involves killing Soul Reapers." The other Arrancar gave that warm smile, that he _almost_ believed was fully genuine and not something meant to irritate him. "Do you get it yet, Nnoitra?"

Humph. Nelliel could keep on waiting for an answer.

Another smile. "Lady Unohana believes that every one of the Espada—yes, even you Nnoitra—are going to be instrumental in ending this war and setting up a peaceful coexistence with Hueco Mundo and the Soul Society."

He scowled. _That_ would always be the thing that would never make sense to him. Peace with the Soul Society? Hah! The only peace Hueco Mundo would have with the Soul Society would be like how herders were at peace with cattle: the latter lived only because the former allowed it, and the former harvested the latter whenever they chose.

Unless the former had something else to eat.

Ugh. _Why_ did he think of something so preposterous?

He started when he noticed Nelliel had stood up. Hadn't noticed it. Woman always did things when he took the moment to try to think on something.

"Well, it was nice to talk to you Nnoitra." There hadn't really been all that much talking. Not meaningful talking. Just Nelliel trying to annoy him. Teach him. Same damned thing.

He just grunted in response.

"Well, in any case, I'm hungry. Lunch."

He looked at the clock that was mounted high on the back of the room. "Lunch? It's barely ten o'clock. That's breakfast."

* * *

Nelliel pursed her lips into a pout. "Oh, don't _you_ start, too."

"Captain Komamura, have you seen Captain Tosen anywhere?" Shuhei asked the Squad Nine captain.

"Hmm? Ah, Lieutenant Hisagi. Your captain told me he'd be at the gravesite of his friend."

He nodded in thanks. "Thank you, sir."

"You are welcome."

He made his way to the hill where the lonely grave marker in question was situated. His captain was there, kneeling quietly on the ground in front of the gravestone and apparently deep in thought. Captain Tosen's haori was neatly folded on the ground next to the older man, and _Suzumushi_ was on the ground in front of the kneeling captain.

"Shuhei?" his captain said without turning.

He would _never_ be able to move up to Captain Tosen undetected. One of these days, maybe. "Yes, Captain. Our teams are slated to go on our patrol route in forty-five minutes. I was just making sure you were all right."

"Mmm," he heard Captain Tosen say distractedly. He moved closer and sat down on the ground a meter behind the other Soul Reaper.

"Shuhei," he heard his captain say, "have I ever told you the story of how I became a Soul Reaper?"

"In passing, sir. Not in detail."

"Ah. Well, I suppose I should share it with you, since the only person to have heard the full story is Captain Komamura."

He nodded and waited for the captain to continue.

"I was very close friends with a young woman who dreamed of being a Soul Reaper. She had enough spiritual power that I believe she would have made a good one. Furthermore, her strength and her skill was tempered by a desire to improve the Soul Society. I wonder, sometimes, if I would have served beside her as a fellow captain.

"But, in the end, it would not come to pass. Her husband, a Soul Reaper himself, murdered her after she rebuked him for slaying a comrade over some petty argument." He could hear the faintest hints of disgust in Captain Tosen's voice. "Murdered for something as... _wasteful_ as that. I had wanted to follow her into the Thirteen Court Guard Squads, but after hearing of this I became disillusioned with the concept of Soul Reapers. How could those who protected the Soul Society stoop to such crimes? They were no better than the common thugs in the worst of the Rukongai."

The older Soul Reaper's voice lowered, and the anger seemed to fade a bit. He usually didn't hear that coming from Captain Tosen, since the Squad Seven captain was usually collected enough to rival the serenity of someone like Captain Kuchiki. It was a sign how much this memory meant to the captain.

"I went to my friend's grave and took her zanpakuto before heading off to find the murderer. As luck would have it, he was on the run for the two killings and was hiding in the Rukon districts; if he had still been in the Seireitei, I would never been able to encounter him. We both drew out our zanpakutos and crossed blades. He must have known who I was—I'm sure my friend had mentioned me a few times—so he knew I was there to kill him.

"Even blind, even with a zanpakuto that did not belong to me, I overwhelmed him and had him on the ground with a blade at his throat. A single twitch would have ended his life. It was then that I realized several things, Shuhei. I was _good_ at this, and while he and I were battling, I also realized that I liked it. I _enjoyed_ the exhilaration that came from a fight to the death."

"And that in turn frightened you," he said softly to Captain Tosen. His captain had mentioned bits and pieces of this story before. "Because that's not who you wanted to be."

"Yes, it did, on a deep level. I wanted to be a warrior of justice, just as my friend had wanted to. But how could I, when I reveled in combat and desired to take the life of another? What justice could I bring to this world if I desired bloodshed so casually?"

The captain fell silent. He waited for what seemed like minutes.

"And then, Shuhei, I did the something that would change my life forever: I backed away. If I had killed him, I would be living for rage and vengeance, and that is not what my friend would have wanted, even if it was to avenge her. I learned the difference between retribution and justice.

"In the end, more Soul Reapers came and arrested the man. He was executed for the double murders a few weeks later. I didn't attend the execution. I knew I would enjoy his death, and that would rob it of its purpose. I spent that time here, with her."

And now he finally realized what drove his captain.

"You know why I requested you to be my lieutenant, Shuhei?"

"You never told me, no, sir."

"But you do remember what I have told you many times, yes?"

He nodded. "You told me to fear the power that can take the lives of others."

He waited as Captain Tosen rose from the ground, donning his haori and sheathing his zanpakuto. "And we both should, Lieutenant Hisagi. We both have that power, terrifying and dark, and I know, that you, like me, has a part that enjoys battle and death." He remembered _Kazeshini_'s released form—especially its shape—and nodded. "And so we much remember what our duty is as Soul Reapers." Captain Tosen motioned down to _Suzumushi_. "When I first manifested my Zanpakuto," Captain Tosen motioned to the rink that hung off the guard of the main sword, "I learned to join it and the sword of my friend together. Every time my sword is drawn, the memory of my friend's loss comes back to me and I am reminded of what I, as a Soul Reaper, have been charged to do."

He was reminded of why he had become a Soul Reaper, as well, when Captain Kensei Murugama saved him and his village from a powerful Hollow. That had put the dream into his heart. Six years after getting into the Soul Reaper Academy—after two botched entrance exams, gah—he and two close friends of his, Aoga and Kanisawa, had been attacked by a vicious, huge Hollow while helping out some first years in a training exercise in the World of the Living. Aoga had been killed instantly in the attack, and things hadn't looked good for Kanisawa. That particular event—their brutal mauling, his helplessness in protecting them—had brought a... frighteningly intense anger into his heart. He worried about it, what would happen if that internal rage ever boiled out of control.

Until Captain Tosen took him under his wing.

A sound of a flash-step shook him from his thoughts. Humph. He'd been thinking so hard he hadn't sensed the spiritual pressure of the oncoming Soul Reaper. He looked behind him.

It was a smallish girl—whose mousy brown hair was tied up with some red-beaded ties—who looked about his own age. The young woman's face had a distinct scar running from the outside edge of her left eye to her chin, which had come from a Hollow's claw.

Coincidentally, the same claw that had given him the three parallel scars over his right eye.

"Third Seat Kanisawa," he said in greeting.

"Captain Tosen. Lieutenant Hisagi," Third Seat Moriko Kanisawa said to them briskly. Heh. His old classmate had on her usual stern look which never seemed to change. "Our patrol is ready to move out."

He stood up from the ground as the captain adjusted his robe and sword. He heard Captain Tosen give a wry chuckle. "Of course, Third Seat. Thank you for alerting us." He saw his captain turn to him. "And I think that's enough melancholy for one afternoon, Shuhei."

"I've had worse, sir," he replied.

"Heh," he heard the older Soul Reaper chuckle. "Well, we have a patrol. Let us go."

"Yes."

* * *

"No," Rangiku said to Gin.

"Yes!"

"No, we are _not_ going to have lunch in the mess hall. This is one of the few days you and I have no duty. So, instead of eating here, we're going outside the Seireitei. You're going to treat me out to that place I liked when were younger."

She smirked at Gin's bewildered expression. "Hold a moment. This is _your_ idea, yet _I_ have to treat you?"

"Yes. Now let's go."

"Now I see why you demanded that I meet you here in civilian clothing," she heard her lover mutter, motioning down to flower-embossed yukata. "You are a very devious person."

"I learn from the master."

"What is _that _supposed to mean?"

"Oh, nothing," she said airily, tucking her arm into the other Soul Reaper's. "Let's get going."

As soon as they had exited through one of the personnel gates flanking the larger main entries, Gin looked at her with a forlorn look on his face. Knowing Gin, it was only about half true.

"You know, Rangiku, it's unseemly for a captain to be bossed around by a lieutenant," her lover said to her.

"That's true. But take a look at us," she said, motioning to her own kimono. "We're not Soul Reapers, we're just a man and a woman out to lunch." She frowned. "Speaking of which, did you bring your zanpakuto along?"

With all reports that Arrancar were able to infiltrate the Soul Society, she wasn't going to leave _Haineko_ behind, even if this was just a case of her and Gin going out for a bite. Of course, she didn't want it to be obvious, so she'd gotten creative with some cloth and string. _Haineko_ now looked like an odd, oblong decoration strapped along the back of her waist. But for the life of her, she couldn't tell where Gin had hidden _Shinso_.

"Yes, I did."

"Where is it?"

"You're free to search me if you want," Gin aid to her with a wide grin. "Well, we should probably get out of the open, since we'd probably get arrested for public indecency after the first ten seconds or so."

She made an exasperated noise. "How _dare_ you say such a thing!" she declared with mock indignation. "I am a _decent_ lady!"

She watched the Squad Three captain make a gesture towards her chest. "With how much of your bosom you're showing, you could've fooled me."

She looked down. Well, true, she _could_ fasten the top a little bit more, but... "Humph. You have no idea what it's like to be beautiful. If I were to close up my robe I'd end up terribly constricted. I might even faint! You wouldn't want that, would you?"

"Oh, dear, no. You'd be a strain on my poor back when I'm carrying you."

She pursed her lips into a moue. "Are you implying that I'm fat?"

"No such thing! I'm just saying... they're not... made out of air, are they?"

She cocked an eyebrow.

"There is nothing wrong with the truth."

She touched a finger to the corner of her lips.

"Er... sorry?"

"Apology accepted... but _only_ if we order enough to bring back with us to my barracks."

Gin sighed. She smiled and snuggled up closer to her lover. She already knew Gin would have done that, but this banter they had going on was just a normal part of their relationship. It made things more... fun. That was probably why she did the same with Captain Hitsugaya, even if her captain was a little too serious for his own good. That adorable little grumpypants.

They continued on towards the South Sixty-Fourth district, talking about things, before she noticed a ragged-looking, yet cheerful building wedged up between an inn and a clothing merchant. Ah, it was still there!

She yanked Gin along inside with her. Inside were a dozen long tables, with eight customers eating one dish or another. Was the owner here? Hmm... oh! Aha!

"Granny Udon!" she cried happily as she saw the old woman. She rushed forward, dragging the other Soul Reaper behind her.

"Granny _Udon_?" she heard Gin say incredulously. "She's named after noodles?"

The old, matronly woman was even shorter than Captain Hitsugaya—which said a lot, but whatever—and had droopy, wizened eyes that nonetheless looked warm and endearing. This woman was also probably the best cook in the entire soul society.

"Ah, only one person ever called me that during the course of my life in this world," Granny said affectionately. "Rangiku Matsumoto, it's been far too long!"

"It sure has!" she agreed, kneeling down and wrapping the woman in a strong hug. Wow, to think Granny still remembered her all these years. Last time she'd seen the old lady it was right before she entered the Seireitei. "How have you been?"

"Oh, I've been fine, dear. Just running this business until I can get someone to take over. Speaking of which... would _you_ be interested?"

She laughed. "Oh no, this wouldn't be the job for me! I like to eat, but I can't cook anything at all!"

She heard Gin make a truncated gagging noise before clearing his throat loudly. She rolled her eyes and lightly elbowed the man in the ribs.

"Oh, my, my eyesight must be really going, Rangiku. Who is this fine looking, handsome young man next to you?"

"That's the first time anyone's used those words to describe me," she heard Gin mutter. "Her eyesight really _is_ going."

"Oh, I forgot to introduce you," she cut in, ignoring her lover's remark. "This is Gin Ichimaru, Granny."

She watched realization dawn on the old lady's face. Granny turned to face Gin. "Gin, is it? Rangiku always used to talk about you whenever I served her lunch in this place."

"Only lunch?" Gin said with a touch of disappointment.

"Oh, and breakfast, and every other dinner. I do hope you're taking good care of this girl. She is a fine young lady."

Gin looked up at her, grinning. "Ahh... well, I think so too. Except when she wants to drag me all over the Rukongai and slaps me if I squint my eyes funny. Oh, and this thing about gold bandanas—"

"You still open for customers, Granny?" she cut in. She had a feeling that Gin would either creep the old lady out... or that Granny would instantly fall in love with that quirky, sometimes facetious, humor of Gin's. She'd find out one of these days. Just not now.

"Oh, of course, my dear. Now, have a seat over here and I'll get you some tea."

* * *

Something about the guy and the woman was bugging Yenni. Couldn't put her finger on it though. Okay, the guy was tall, thin, white-haired, blue-eyed, and was grinning all the damned time. That smile hadn't dropped since they'd come into the shop. The woman was a couple of centimeters taller than her, athletic, had wavy ginger hair, was—okay—fairly pretty, and was... really, really stacked.

She looked forlornly down at her own chest. A size or so up would be really nice and—

Oh _hell_ no, she was _not_ going to have bosom envy because of some random Whole. Those damned things were probably going to give that lady back problems later in life.

Oh, whatever. She focused back on her soup—she'd been watching the two newcomers all stealthy-like—and slurped up some more noodles. This stuff wasn't half bad. Didn't compare to a nice plump Hollow or a nice, strong Whole, but she wasn't supposed to eat those anymore. After all, since everything in the Soul Society was made up of condensed reishi, she was getting nourishment just fine. No one was getting hurt, which made her infiltration easier. Well, except for this one rich-looking prick she'd mugged to get money from.

She let her senses drift, trying to focus on what Smiley and Stack Attack were ordering. Smiley ordered a simple soup with about three orders worth of dried persimmons on the side. Stack Attack was ordering... ew. The woman was mixing the taro paste with shrimp and curry? And then adding _what_?

She wrinkled her nose and continued eating her own food. She could have done without hearing that order. Those types of mixtures should be illegal.

She still had to keep aware, though. She listened in on Smiley and Stack Attack as they talked with the shop owner. Hmm. Whenever the old lady asked them about their current life or job, Stack Attack changed subjects. Interesting. The woman wasn't lying, but she was obviously not telling the whole truth. The shop owner didn't seem aware of the sidestepping, but she could see it plain as day.

She heard footsteps behind her. Eh?

Someone plopped down on the bench next to her. She slowly swiveled her head, frowning, to stare at her new tablemate. Lanky, pasty-faced, stringy hair. When the guy smiled she could see yellow, broken teeth. Perfect example of a Grade-A Creep. Why did she attract the weirdoes?

"I'm eating," she said tersely. "I want my space. Thanks."

"Ah, come on honey," Creepy said. "You know I can show a girl a good time." She felt a hand on her thigh.

She immediately reached down and gripped Creepy's wrist, hard, releasing a quick burst of her spiritual pressure. A Whole wouldn't be able to know it was spiritual pressure being let loose, but the guy would be feeling those stifling, nervousness-inducing properties it had. Plus if Creepy didn't get his digits off her leg she was going to crush his fricking wrist.

She watched the man recoil and hurriedly move his hand from her leg. Creepy stumbled away from her table and back to his buddies in the corner. Asshole.

She noticed that Smiley and Stack Attack had suddenly stopped talking. Huh. She frowned and bent over her bowl again, scooping up the last few scraps of meat.

A hand landed on her shoulder. Huh? She hadn't heard the person approaching her. If Creepy was at it again...

"Listen, I told you I want my space, so you've got two seconds to let go or I'm shoving these chopsticks up your—"

"That's really naughty, you know," the hand's owner said in a whisper. "Just like it's impolite to toss around reishi like that. Who are you?"

She froze. That was Smiley's voice. But how...?

She carefully moved her head so she could get a good luck at Smiley. Smiling, blue eyes, white hair... ah, crap. She recognized him from Ise's briefings: Gin Ichimaru, Captain, Third Squad. The Soul Reaper had looked different with civilian clothing on so she'd missed noticing him. Damned careless.

That meant Stack Attack was probably Rangiku Matsumoto, Lieutenant, Tenth Squad. Damn.

Enemy/Reaper/destroy/kill/eat.

Think fast. Chopsticks. No. Zanpakuto. Double no. Soup. Hmm.

Without warning she tossed the liquid into Ichimaru's face. It wasn't scalding hot, but warm enough that it would disorient the captain for a few heartbeats. Ichimaru's hands instinctively left her shoulder to claw at the soup, which gave her the chance to lob the bowl at Creepy and his friends. Right as it left her hands, she rolled backwards off the bench and swept the Soul Reaper's captain's legs out from under him. Unfortunately, Ichimaru was stronger and quicker than she had estimated, so the strike that should have knocked the captain to the floor only dropped him to one knee.

By now, Matsumoto was already dashing her way, hand dropping to that weird object at the woman's waist. Retreat time. Another roll and she was out the door and running through the street.

Dammit, she was compromised. They'd be looking for her.

* * *

Gin picked himself off the floor, wiping his face with his sleeve. Well, that was embarrassing. He was going to have to find that girl—no, Arrancar—and ask her, not-so-nicely, what the hell this was about.

He rushed out the door. There, dust to the left. He gathered reishi and flash-stepped, following the dirt kicked up by the fleeing Hollow.

There hadn't been any mistaking that reishi pattern. Hollow spiritual pressure with a hint of something that felt almost like a Soul Reaper's. That energy should stand out like a sore thumb in the middle of the Rukongai... but he was getting nothing. He had to rely on physical trails the Arrancar had left behind, which was a bit of a problem since this girl was apparently very good at moving stealthily. Would do Soifon and her merry band of ninjas proud. Kaname would have a cow over this, too, blindness and all. Ah, more dust.

He turned a corner... and came to a dead end with no trace of the Arrancar. Well, damn. He leaped up to the roof of one of the taller buildings. From this vantage point he wasn't having any luck, either.

This wasn't going to look good on his report. Looked like their lunch outing was over, so he had better gather up Rangiku and get back to the Seireitei. He flash-stepped towards the shop. His lover would probably be very annoyed by this. Maybe if he bought her—eh?

Half of the tables in the noodle place were knocked over, and at one of them had an unconscious Whole draped over it. He frowned and started to step inside...

Whoa. He ducked, and a howling man sailed over his head before crashing into yet another bench. Rising from his crouch, he saw Rangiku near the back wall, rocking slowly on the balls of her feet. Four men surrounded the other Soul Reaper, one of them the unfortunate-looking fellow that had originally accosted the Arrancar. Looks like they didn't have a clue as to what the girl was. Or who _they_ were.

As he watched one of the men made a move for Rangiku, who neatly sidestepped the clumsy grapple. His lover slammed a fist into the attacker's collarbone—near a sensitive pressure point—before booting the stunned Whole in the jaw with a neat side kick.

Of course, he wasn't going to mention to Rangiku that doing that whole maneuver did some particularly wobbly things to certain parts of his lover's anatomy. Well. Ahem.

"Gentlemen, it was a pleasure and all," he said pleasantly to the remaining three Wholes. "I think the lady and I are going to be leaving now." He turned to the shopkeeper and gave a small, polite bow. "And thank you for having Rangiku and I, Missus Noodles. Uh..." he scratched his head as he looked over the thrashed room. "Yes. We'll be back in a week or so and we'll pay for whatever damage these ruffians caused."

"And what makes you think you're waltzing out of here?" said the greasy-looking Whole. "You think you can throw a bowl into my face and just pretend like it didn't happen?"

Oh, perfect. Not only was this guy ill-tempered, but the man was blind, too. Apparently it was too much to tell the difference between a tall, white-haired man and a shorter, brunette female.

He smiled wide at the three Wholes, who were now distracted and leaving Rangiku alone. Not that the woman needed help or anything. Honestly, he'd have liked to see Rangiku kick the snot out of these three idiots, but that would involve breaking furniture. Rangiku seemed to like this place, as evidenced by his lover not having broken out zanpakuto or kido to neutralize these jokers and causing uncessary damage.

"Listen, a woman just tossed..." he made a show of counting the unconscious men strewn about the room, "four of you around like naughty puppies. Personally, I'd let her continue doing it, since it's such a scrumptious sight." Oops, he'd said that out loud. Rangiku was going yell at him tonight. "But I think that's enough for today. Cut your losses and go home. Or shacks. Go to your shacks."

The leader of the group bared teeth at him. "And you want to know why she did that? We didn't feel like roughing up this pretty little piece." The Whole gestured to the lieutenant. "After all, we were going to show her what _real_ men are made of. But you're right. This is _over_."

And then, quickly, the bastard drew out a long knife. Well, okay then. He reached down inside his yukata and drew out his wakizashi.

"Gin, wait!" he heard Rangiku yell.

He'd like to dwell on that request more, but the Rukon thug was lunging at Rangiku while his lover was distracted. Well, Rangiku was going to yell at him later, anyway...

Shoot to kill, _Shinso_.

"Stabby-stabby time, _Shinso_!" he sang. He had a steady bead on the Whole's head, but at the last minute he dropped the tip of his blade a few inches. There was a _thunk_, a yelp, and the ruffian was pinned to the wall by his tunic. Gosh, he was so good.

"Like I said, cut your losses—"

"It's a Soul Reaper! Run!" one of the remaining Wholes screeched as they fled through the kitchen, presumably out a back door. The pinned Whole was just staring at him, wide-eyed. He smiled and narrowed his eyes.

"Normally, I'd have no qualms with sticking my zanpakuto through your skull, but you can thank the pretty little piece," he motioned to his lover, "for curbing my more lethal sociopathic tendencies." He called back the released _Shinso_. "Now get out of here."

The thug just blabbered, almost sobbing, and fled the same way his fellows had. He sheathed _Shinso_ and turned to the shop owner. "Now, I'll be back tomorrow to—"

"Leave."

Eh. "Er... excuse me?"

"You two Soul Reapers, leave," the old woman repeated. He could see that the woman looked both sad and hurt. Why, though?

"Granny, I—" Rangiku started to say.

"We don't need you Soul Reapers here. Just... leave, Rangiku. Don't come back."

He saw his lover's face drop in what was almost heart wrenchingly painful to watch. For most other people probably would have thought so, but, of course, Captain Gin Ichimaru wasn't like most people.

But he could see the hurt in Rangiku's eyes. He stepped over to the woman and put his arm around her shoulders. "Let's go, Rangiku," he said.

His lover just nodded wordlessly, and soon they were out of the wrecked shop and heading back towards the Seireitei.

* * *

Nanao ran a hand over her face as she read the report from Laiggs. Through pure dumb luck, the intelligence agent had literally run into Captain Ichimaru and Rangiku in some random part of the Rukongai Sixty-Fourth district. The Arrancar was compromised.

The message also said that Laiggs would be cutting off contact until the Arrancar deemed it safe to send out another update. How long that would be... eh, who knew?

She wished the Arrancar luck. With Captain Soifon and the Stealth Force on high alert, it would be extraordinarily difficult—at _best_—for Laiggs to get out of there in one piece. And that didn't even take into account the Thirteen Court Guard Squads who would be combing the area in addition to Soifon's troops.

"Nanao?" he heard a familiar voice say from behind her.

"Captain Kyoraku," she replied, turning. "What can I do for you?"

She almost winced as that left her mouth. The captain usually followed up a remark like that with a request for a massage, or a hug, or a kiss, or... yeah.

She did have to admit, though, with a different set of clothing—an outfit identical to the Hueco Mundo Arrancar—and without the silly-looking hat and kimono, Kyoraku cleaned up quite nicely.

_Why_ was she thinking that?

"For starters, you could come with me to the holding area. Unohana is going to use the Hogyoku."

She perked up. "She convinced the Vasto Lorde to join the Espada?" she asked, rising from her seat.

Her former captain shrugged. "Not quite, from what I hear. The Vasto Lorde wished to see what wonders what us Soul Reapers could bestow upon the Menos, and why we have turned our backs on our comrades to rise up in rebellion against the Soul Society." She cocked an eyebrow at Kyoraku's... interesting diction. "That's a direct quote from that Hollow, by the way. I'd never say something as complex as that. Jushiro, maybe, but not me."

She snorted. That almost distracted her from the nightmare that was rapidly becoming the infiltration mission. The only real bright spot in this whole mess was that the Seireitei _still_ didn't seem to have a clue as to the scope and intricacy of the operation. In any case, she'd have to brief the others later. Still, she had to be thinking of how—

"You seem distracted, lil'Nanao," she heard her captain say.

Ah, she'd have to tell the man later, anyway. "I got a message in from Laiggs. She was discovered."

Kyoraku made an annoyed sound. "I've heard that she's very good at what she does. Bad luck?"

"Seems that way. Ran into Ichimaru and Matsumoto while she was eating."

"Eh? What were those two doing out in the Rukon district?"

"Unknown, Captain."

She heard Kyoraku snort. "You know, Nanao, I'm not your captain anymore. Hell, I'm not a captain, period. No need for the formalities."

Hmm... maybe if she could shift the other teams to help extract Laiggs... "It's a sign of respect," she said distractedly. Wait, what had she said?

"You still don't need to do that. Even though the Arrancar aren't calling you Lady Ise—which I, personally, would find quite enticing—you do have to remember that you're not my mere subordinate anymore, much less Unohana's or Jushiro's."

"Hard to remember when I'm under the shadow of you three," she said simply.

"You have to give yourself a little more credit, you know," the older Soul Reaper said to her, holding up a finger. "You command the internal and external intelligence," Kyoraku raised another finger, "counterintelligence," finger, "and reconnaissance operations for all of Las Noches. That's a pretty big responsibility, if you ask me. I mean, what do _I_ do?"

"You directly command the Espada along with Captain Ukitake," she said humorously. "Unohana's right-hand man—or left-hand, depending on where Captain Ukitake is."

"Well, that's nothing. Nelliel does all the hard work, anyway. And Dordonii picks up the slack. And Jushiro has anything left over."

She chuckled. "Say what you will, but I highly doubt you'd still be in your position if you were useless, Captain."

"Maybe," she heard Kyoraku say with a chuckle. "And I'll repeat: You can drop the 'Captain' thing, Nanao."

"And call you what? Lord?"

"I think 'Kyoraku' is good enough."

"Using your surname without an honorific would seem disrespectful."

She heard the male Soul Reaper make an exasperated noise. "Where you always this difficult, Nanao? If you're worried about being disrespectful, I hereby declare that you may address me by my first name."

She wrinkled her nose at that. "I am _not_ going to go around calling you Shunsui!"

"You just did!"

She opened her mouth to tell "Shunsui" that she, in fact, _had not_, but she closed it again. She sighed. "I don't remember _you_ being this difficult."

Kyoraku put on an injured expression.

Oh, really now? "Oh, don't you pout," she said, annoyed.

"You know, you're starting to sound like..." she noticed that the other Soul Reaper look thoughtful for a moment. "Well, you aren't _nearly_ old enough to sound like my mother, but I do think you could be—"

"Since you're no longer my superior," she cut in, "I can hit you. And if you say 'wife', I _will_ hit you."

"I was going to say something along the line of teacher, or sister, but if spouse was the first thing that came to your mind..."

"Oh, you're impossible," she grumbled quietly. She had to change the subject, post-haste, or she was going to go insane. "Never mind." She rubbed her forehead. "What precautions has Captain Unohana taken?"

She noticed Captain Kyoraku quirk a grin at her before turning serious again. Whatever his flirtatious habits and flamboyant mannerisms, she knew her captain was very intelligent, tactful—well, sort of—empathic, and, while not on the level of Captain Ukitake, charismatic. The man knew when she wanted to change the subject, and wasn't going to continue ribbing her on it.

"She has Jushiro, myself, Nelliel, Dordonii, Gantenbainne, Starrk, and Rudobon standing by, with Szayel Aporro observing. Plus about fifty Exequias."

"Huh. I somehow think that the Vasto Lorde might feel a bit... offended by all that, especially since Unohana is showing otherwise good faith by removing his mask."

"Actually, the Menos doesn't mind at all," she heard Kyoraku disagree. "If anything, he actually appreciates the sentiment. After all, the Hollow is going to receive a great boost in power the moment the Hogyoku transforms him. As powerful as Unohana is, both she and the Vasto Lorde know that things would turn out quite ugly if he decided to attack her. And since Hollows naturally have a suspicious mindset, well..."

Hmm. Her captain did make a good point. The Adjuchas was not a Soul Reaper, after all, and by their nature Hollows were predators, with all the paranoia, hunger, and craftiness that came with that.

"I suppose so," she said. "In any case I'm sure she want me monitoring reishi levels and patterns?"

"Naturally. She'll probably also want a full-spectrum recording, since this is the first time we've used the Hogyoku. We'll need data."

"Of course. I'll need some of the Exequias to help me run the equipment," she said. Hmm. They would need to monitor biosigns, reishi, ambient energy levels... Oh, it was going to be a real number, wasn't it?

"Give me a number and I'll make it happen."

"Thank you, Captain."

They walked on quietly after that. At least her captain was being helpful. Hmm. Which reminded her of something that she had noticed.

"Captain," she said carefully, "I've been meaning to ask you something."

"It's because this whole situation is grim business, Nanao," Kyoraku said to her soberly. "The moment the four of us broke away from the Soul Society, we've signed a death warrant if they ever capture us. Which would be redundant if we get killed in battle, but let's not think about that."

How...? "Captain... I... how did you...?"

She saw Kyoraku grin. It wasn't the usually not-quite-lecherous grin she had remembered from the Soul Society, but a friendly, heartfelt one. "I was your captain for a _long_ time, Nanao. I don't have the people-skills of Jushiro, but I'd like to think I know at least a little about how you think. Like how you're wondering why I don't sleep all the time anymore. Or why I haven't drunk myself stupid. Or why I actually do paperwork now. Or why I haven't made serious passes at you."

Okay... _that_ was almost spooky. "Because this is serious," she muttered softly.

"Partially. I was able to goof off back in the Seireitei because there were twelve other captains. Also, it was good for squad morale." Huh? She cocked an eyebrow at that. "Oh, come on Nanao. You're an observant young lady. Don't tell me you didn't see the squad lightening up when they saw the deadbeat drunkard captain being pestered by the stern young lieutenant. Who is then almost harassed by said captain."

Had a point there. "Well, I guess I could see how that would improve the mood," she conceded.

"Of course you can," Kyoraku said with a chuckle. "In our current state, Arrancar wouldn't find that cute, and my lazing about would annoy them more than anything. Although, I do notice that Starrk somehow gets away with it every once and a while, at least until Lillynette grabs his uvula."

She snorted. Kyoraku had used "uvula" in a sentence. "And the last one? About the passes?"

"Do I sense a tone of longing?" She gave the man a dangerous look. "Heh. Didn't think so. Well, Nanao, I think you know I really did it out of habit."

"Somewhat. I've always thought that you enjoyed the actual flirting, and didn't look for what, uh, came afterwards. If I showed up in your room wearing, er, not very much, you'd run away screaming."

Kyoraku hesitated, and she almost walloped him. "Well, I don't know. Other women, sure. Lieutenant Matsumoto—whom I think every male has dreamed of at one time or another—wouldn't do much for me. Hinamori, either of the Kotetsus, Soifon." She saw Kyoraku shiver visibly. "Soifon scares the stubble off of me."

She laughed at that. The Squad Two captain had some strange... manias. Plus the woman was physically strong enough to snap most people in two. Literally.

"And that's because I don't know them well enough," she heard Kyoraku continue. "And I'm not comfortable with that. You, on the other hand, Nanao, I know."

She stared. "Captain, I—"

The other Soul Reaper cleared his throat loudly... and it almost, just almost, sounded self-conscious. "Unohana is waiting for us, Specialist Ise," the man said stiffly.

"Of course, Captain Kyoraku," she replied, equally stiffly.

They continued heading towards the holding chamber. Great, just great. As if she didn't have enough things to think about!

* * *

"Lord Kyoraku. Specialist Ise," Nelliel said respectfully as the two Soul Reapers entered the large, reinforced chamber. Adjacent to this one was a smaller room where Lady Unohana and the Vasto Lorde stood ready.

"Nelliel," the two replied, also respectfully. They exchanged nods.

Ise immediately moved to a control panel and began to rapidly manipulate the many buttons, switches, and dials that controlled the monitoring equipment. Heh. She, personally, could not make heads or tails of the contraption, much less identify which button powered the thing on or which would, say, blow up Las Noches.

Note to self: never, _ever_, let Pesche or Dondachakka near the machines that Specialist Ise used.

"Rudobon, this procedure is going to be monitored very thoroughly," she heard Lord Kyoraku say from off to the side. Specialist Ise will need some assistance. A dozen of your men, if you please."

"Yes, sir," the Noveno Espada affirmed. She saw the Exequias commander gesture, and twelve Calaveras silently moved to positions spread along the control board. It was almost eerie how the skull-headed troopers never made a sound.

"This is going to be interesting, won't it, Nelliel?" she heard a voice come from beside her.

Huh? Oh. "Lord Ukitake," she addressed the Soul Reaper. "My apologies, I didn't see you come up beside me."

The Soul Reaper just grinned at her and waved off the comment. "I can move quietly when I want to. It's of no consequence." She saw the man glance at large monitor that had popped to life on one of the walls, courtesy of Ise. The display showed Lady Unohana and the Vasto Lorde talking. The sound was muted, so she couldn't make out what they were saying.

"Things are going to be quite... different, if this works as it's supposed to."

She nodded. For one, the first ever artificial Arrancar would be born. If the process could be repeated easily enough, many, many Hollows could have their masks removed, including those that didn't have the power to do it themselves. Hmm. That would be a very momentous—or tumultuous—change.

She was particularly interested how an assisted mask removal affected the boost in power such an act granted. She was sure she and the top five Espada—and Starrk—could best the Vasto Lorde in combat without having to release. Come to think of it, the other Espada _should_ be able defeat them in Resurreciòn, considering they had the presence of mind to release. Luppi, after all, had been blindsided by the annoyed Hollow.

But that was with the Vasto Lorde as a fully masked hollow. The power increase form artificially removing its mask might be monstrous, and if the process could be repeated easily enough, there might be a new crop of stronger Espada.

Although, she hadn't been paying lip service to Lady Unohana's motives during that talk with Nnoitra. Even if a hypothetical new batch of Arrancar were superior in combat to the current Espada, Lady Unohana wouldn't just toss them out into the cold because of it.

Still, it made the Hollow in her...

...Threat/enemy/kill/kill...

...Plus the other little voices, a little antsy. After all, the Vasto Lorde had not made an oath of allegiance—or any promise of nonaggression, come to think of it—subsequent to this. The stranger was powerful enough before... with a mask removal it might be dangerous.

"It certainly will," she replied. "Although I can worry about the long-term later. I'm more worried about what's going to happen as soon as that mask comes off."

"Don't we all?" she heard Lord Ukitake say thoughtfully. "While I have faith in Unohana's decisions, she really shouldn't be exposing herself so much." She heard the Soul Reaper chuckle. "I liked to follow the maxim that a leader who doesn't take the same risks as his troops should not be leading them. After seeing this, though, I wish Unohana didn't abide by it as much as I do."

She heard the white-haired man sigh and shrug. She agreed on all counts.

"Speaking of troops, how are Pesche and Dondachakka?" Lord Ukitake asked her good-naturedly. "I haven't seen them recently."

"They are doing fine, thank you," she answered. "They're actually working on modifying their Cero Sincrètico."

"Oh, is that right?" the man replied. Hmm. Looked interested at the news. "I did manage to witness that, once, and it's a very powerful technique. So, tell me..."

She and Lord Ukitake talked about mundane, pedestrian things for a bit, never mind the monumental event about to happen in a few moments. It was nice to idly chat every once and a while, and, to be honest, there were worse people to do so with than Lord Ukitake. Despite being a Soul Reaper, the man was almost impossibly charismatic, and from all that she heard—and experienced firsthand—the Soul Reaper's politeness, concern, and amiability were all completely genuine. And, for a Soul Reaper, Lord Ukitake certainly was not bad to look at.

She smiled inwardly. If someone could combine Lord Ukitake's good looks, charm, and kindness, with Lord Kyoraku's quirky humor, easygoing attitude, and endearing womanizing, you would have a man who would be the envy of all other men. Also, you'd get a man who'd probably have a line of angry boyfriends, husbands, fathers, and brothers a mile long.

Heh.

She saw Lady Unohana gesture to the observation camera and nod. Ah. Looked like it was going to begin. She moved her hand down so it was near, but not quite touching, _Gamuza_.

* * *

"Are you ready?" Retsu asked the Vasto Lorde.

"I have _been_ ready, Soul Reaper," the Hollow replied curtly. "Proceed."

She'd normally let that slide, but in such a precarious situation as this, she _had_ to establish her authority, especially to something with a Hollow's mindset.

"You are a guest here in Las Noches," she said firmly. "I have shown you proper deference and consideration, and I will _not_ be spoken to in such a fashion in this place. Do we understand each other?"

The Vasto Lorde eyed her warily for a few moments, and then grinned. She had a feeling that the Hollow had evaluated her response... and was regarding her with more respect because of it. "Of course. My apologies."

"Accepted. Please, step forward."

The Menos did so, and she held out her hand, palm up. Resting on it was the Hogyoku, which was pulsing a dark, almost black, light. The Vasto Lorde looked at it intently.

Interesting, that. When the Vasto Lorde—the Hollow _still_ had not told her his name—had been brought to Las Noches, he had displayed a certain... lack of enthusiasm about the potential of the Hogyoku. Today, however, that attitude had changed.

In any case...

She unleashed her spiritual pressure, directing towards her hand that held the small sphere. She grunted as the Hogyoku morphed slightly, stabbing a half-dozen needle-tipped tendrils into her flesh. Immediately she felt her reishi ebb, so she released even more even as she felt herself weaken. Couldn't keep this up for long...

_What do you wish for_?

What...?

_What do you wish for_?

Humph. So that was how it was going to be. Make this one before me an Arrancar.

_Why_?

Because I command it.

_Why_?

Do it, damn you.

_So be it_.

Suddenly, the Hogyoku began to shine a blinding white. She squinted against the glare, but it was too much. So bright...

And then the light faded as she felt a tremble in her knees. She took a breath and concentrated on keeping herself upright, and the tremor stopped. It had been so exhausting just to do this one small act.

She closed her fist around the dormant Hogyoku and slipped the little object into a pouch she had at her waist. Now, for the results...

Kneeling down before here was a naked, slender, human-like form. The Hollow's mask remnants, a tiara-like decoration that seemed pinned to his blond hair, glowed ever so slightly before losing its luminescence. On the floor next to the figure was what looked like a large, double-edged sword.

The Menos—no, _Arrancar_—raised a hand up, looking at it intently.

"Heh. Fascinating." The new Arrancar lifted his face to look her in the eye. The Hollow's features were deceptively youthful, with a mischievous grin and fair, soft-looking skin. And freckles. Before her was an Arrancar with _freckles_.

But whatever boyish features his Hollow had, they were made a lie when she looked at those lavender eyes. They were full of crafty intelligence and barely-contained malevolence that were completely alien to such a young face.

The new Arrancar rose, slowly, to his feet. She focused on preserving her reishi, trying to replenish the reserves she had spent to feed the Hogyoku. This was the most dangerous part of the process, where this powerful Hollow could very well assault her as she was nowhere near full strength.

But no, the Hollow did nothing.

"I notice that I no longer have such a strong desire to devour you, Soul Reaper Unohana," the Arrancar said. "It's still there, mind you, but it's not nearly maddening as before." The Hollow lifted an arm and flexed it. "I feel more powerful already. And I see it took quite a toll on you."

Breathe deep, breathe strong. Focus, focus...

Then the malice in the Hollow's eyes left, replaced with wary respect.

"So, I don't suppose you would tell me your name now?" she said, letting a smile touch her lips.

"I suppose it would be rude of me to withhold that information, now, _Lady_ Unohana." Hah. It seemed the Hollow was going to accept her authority, at least for now. The Arrancar slowly knelt down on one knee, head inclined. "My name is Wonderweiss. Wonderweiss Margera."


	12. Chapter 9: Dawn

**_DOWNFALL_**

By

Greg Wong

* * *

**Chapter 9: Dawn**

* * *

Byakuya heard his wife murmur something. Hurriedly, he bent down so he could hear.

"Rukia? Rukia are you there?" he heard—barely—Hisana say to him.

"It's me, my love," he answered softly. "Rukia is coming in a bit."

"Rukia... please... listen..." Hisana whispered faintly. He grimaced. The medications and analgesics used to keep the pain in check were causing his wife to hallucinate.

"Yes," he said quietly.

"When—"

The door to the hospital room slid open suddenly. He turned around, frowning. Hmm. Lieutenant Kotetsu and Sixth Seat Yamada, carrying a case with several vials in it. He rose from his bedside chair.

"News?" he asked simply.

"Yes, Captain Kuchiki," the tall woman replied. "I've already sent someone for Rukia, but I think I can tell you first."

He just barely kept himself from trembling. News could be good or bad, and Lieutenant Kotetsu didn't look very happy.

"Please, tell me."

"Of course, sir. I..." Kotetsu looked away for a moment, with what looked like an ashamed expression. "First, I want to apologize to you for not being able to identify the illness when your wife was first taken ill."

He shook his head. The poor woman was worried that she had not done enough? "Lieutenant, I know you have been working night and day to find the cause of my wife's illness. I cannot fault you if your search has taken time to complete. In fact, I know my wife would have been far worse shape had you not personally taken care of her."

The Squad Four lieutenant looked a bit taken aback by the praise. He heard Kotetsu clear her throat.

Now, he almost dreaded what was to come. Whatever the diagnosis was, he had to be strong. For Hisana. For Rukia. For the household. For himself.

"During my investigation, Captain Kuchiki, I saw an incredible similarity between Lady Hisana's symptoms and a rare, fatal wasting disease from a few years ago."

He felt his heart stop. "What can you do?" he asked. Frantically. So be it. This was his _wife_. "What can be done—"

"Captain! Please, let me finish!"

He stopped.

He watched the lieutenant smile nervously. Huh. Had to remember that, despite being the current leader of Squad Four and one of the chief healers of the Seireitei, Isane was still young and relatively inexperienced. "As I was saying, sir, there were _similarities_. After a little more digging around, I determined that the _differences_ ruled out this particular sickness."

He allowed himself to breathe again.

"After some more investigation, I discovered that Lady Hisana's condition is actually an equally rare hypersensitivity of the immune system to a certain environmental substances."

He frowned. "Please, explain."

"Oh, sorry. Technical wording. Er... the simple version is that your wife has a severe, extremely painful, but nonfatal allergy."

He felt his jaw droop open. "Wait, what?"

"Allergy, Captain Kuchiki," she heard Hanataro say in that nervous tone that the Sixth Seat seemed to have permanently.

He closed his mouth—it had been a long time since he'd lost his composure like that—and shook his head. "I wasn't aware that allergies caused one to cough up blood."

"Oh, it wasn't blood from her lungs or any of the major organs. The allergens cause severe irritation and inflammation of her throat, and when the allergens cause her to cough, the force of that is enough to cause injuries to her esophagus. Which are easily treatable, of course."

"So, the bottom line is...?"

"Your wife will be fine, Captain. Once we give her some medications to counteract the allergens and some pain medications and syrups to help with the healing of her throat, she will be good as new. Just... make sure she doesn't come into contact with more allergens"

He nodded at that, almost dumbfounded. This was happy news. Strange, but happy nonetheless. Allergies? Really?

"What allergens?"

"Well, Captain Kuchiki, I was wondering if you have any—"

The door slid open noisily, and Rukia—followed by his lieutenant—rushed into the room.

While on duty, his sister was reportedly always close by Kaien Shiba, but if not, Rukia was almost always in the company of Renji. Once Hisana woke up from this allergy attack—hah!—the three of them would need to talk. It would be nice to talk about something as inane as Rukia's eclectic companionship.

* * *

Isane frowned. She noticed that Rukia was carrying something that looked like a cage that was covered in a shroud. What could the other Soul Reaper possibly be bringing into a hospital?

Ah, unimportant.

She turned to Rukia and Renji and repeated what she had said to Captain Kuchiki. The relief in both of their eyes was clear.

Heh. It was good to have some _good_ news, for once.

"So... what's in the cage?"

"Oh. Well, I just thought Hisana might want some other company, or something." She saw the small Soul Reaper smile apologetically. "I mean, I've always liked them, so I hope Hisana won't mind their company."

Wait a moment. "But you've always liked..."

"Rabbits," Rukia replied sweetly, sweeping off the cloth from the cage and revealing two ridiculously adorable lop bunnies.

Hisana started to cough.

Bunnies? Bunnies. Bunnies! Gah!

She dashed forward and ripped the cage from the other woman's hands. She noticed, in the corner of her mind, that everyone else in the room—Captain Kuchiki, Rukia, Renji, and, to a lesser extent, Hanataro—were utterly dumbfounded by her rabbit-stealing.

She chucked the cage at Hanataro. "_Get them out of here_!" she shouted.

The timid Soul Reaper juggled the cage. "But... but I can't flash-step and—"

"_GO_!" she roared.

The Sixth Seat practically jumped at the command and scampered down out of the room and down the corridors of the hospital. She winced when she heard crashes and cursing from down the halls. Eh heh.

The coughing hadn't stopped, so she opened up one of the vials of medicine she'd mixed and carefully poured it down Lady Hisana's throat. It was a syrup that would simultaneously soothe a throat and help neutralize histamines. Hanataro had actually helped her make it. The Sixth Seat was very handy in a laboratory setting when he wasn't fussing over something.

"Ooh," she heard the sick woman moan. "What was that about?"

"Well, you know that allergy I was talking about?" she asked, addressing the others in the room. "It's, uh... rabbit hair."

"Huh?" she heard Renji say confusedly. "Rabbit fur?"

"Yes," she replied. "Rabbit fur. Those pets are going to have to go, Rukia."

"But... but..." the small woman spluttered, "she was allergic to _rabbits_!"

"Exactly. The sickness just didn't show up until now, for whatever reason. It happens."

"Ah, well then," she heard Rukia sigh. Then, hopefully, "Maybe if we shave them...?"

"Not going to solve the problem, since the fur grows back fast. Besides, do you want a bald bunny?"

"Good point, Lieutenant," Rukia admitted. "If they need to go, they need to go." Byakuya's sister turned to the Squad Six lieutenant. "You know, Renji, you could—"

"I am _not_ taking care of your bunnies, Rukia!" Renji protested. "I work with your brother," remember? If I get fur on me, it might transfer to Captain Kuchiki's clothing."

"Well, just be _careful_, why don't you?"

As the two argued—it was almost... cute, actually. Ahem—she leaned over to Captain Kuchiki and gave the man instructions on the dosages and procedures for the medicine.

That done, there was another high-priority patient she had to see today. Hopefully, the news would be as good for Momo as it was for Lady Hisana.

* * *

"No news is bad news, I suppose," Gin mused. "Nothing on that rude Arrancar girl."

"Please, top talking to yourself, Gin," he heard Kaname say in a slightly annoyed tone.

"I was talking to _you_! I hope you don't consider yourself to be me!"

"Please, don't say such a thing. The very idea is ghastly."

"It's quite fun being me!"

"Because you are already you, and not someone else becoming you."

He put on a puzzled expression. "Eh?"

"Never mind, Gin, even though I know full well that you understood that."

"If you say so."

He smirked and readjusted _Shinso_ at his waist. The Rukongai people were giving him and Kaname a wide berth, even though he and the other captain were not wearing their captain haoris and were only releasing enough reishi to identify them as Soul Reapers. Honestly, he'd _like_ to throw all his spiritual pressure out and make people collapse, just for laughs, but... no, Rangiku wouldn't like that.

Heh.

"You're smiling again," he heard Kaname say.

He blinked. "Kaname, how could you tell? You're—"

"I can sense a slight change in your reishi that tells me your mind turned to something that amuses you or makes you a little happier; I can't tell which. Maybe both. You like to grin when something amuses you. Ergo, you are smiling."

He cocked an eyebrow. "You could tell that much just from my reishi?"

"Of course. I am, after all, blind."

"Was that self-deprecation I just heard?"

"Gin..." the other captain said in warning tone.

"Ah, you're no fun."

Off to one side a woman gathered her children into the house and shut the door. Humph. These people in the high-number districts always treated them as bogeymen. It wasn't like he was going to toss the kids into a pot and cook them into a stew. It would be too stringy.

Joke, joke.

But, in all seriousness, he never really understood it. When he and Rangiku were younger they hadn't hated Soul Reapers. Most people didn't worship them, or anything, but it wasn't this fear he was seeing now. Then again, he and Rangiku had been kids over a hundred years ago, and things changed over a century.

"By the way, Gin," he heard Kaname inquire, "you never did tell me why you wanted me to come along. I think I understand why you wanted to come back to this place, but you could have handled it all on your own."

Good question, actually. He obviously didn't want Rangiku along for what was going to happen. And yes, he supposed he could do this without help. Then again.

"Today, Kaname," he announced grandly," you get to be my conscience."

The other captain stopped and looked at him. Well, not _looked_, but, you know. "I beg your pardon?"

"Since Rangiku isn't here, you'll be an uglier, boring, significantly more male substitute."

"Why, thank you."

He flapped his hand at Kaname's dry remark. "I can't very call you anything _but_ ugly, right? Don't want people getting the wrong ideas about us, eh?"

"How about the idea where I truss you up like a turkey and carry you the rest of the way to our destination?" Kaname muttered to him in what was almost a believable threat.

"Rather not."

"Then, please stop."

He and his surrogate conscience walked on towards their goal. He had to think about how he wanted this to play out, since it would be very... delicate.

"Ah, there it is!" he declared. "Stay outside."

"I thought you wanted—"

"You hear screaming, you come and arrest me," he said humorously. Problem was he wasn't sure if it was a joke or not. Hopefully.

He stepped into Granny Udon's mostly-rebuilt restaurant. Hmm. Empty. People must have cleared out when the news that two Soul Reapers were heading this way reached the place. The place looked decent, considering the brawl that had taken place there two weeks back.

"Why are you here, Soul Reaper?" a voice asked him.

"Just want to talk," he answered, looking over his shoulder at Granny Udon.

"No. I'm closed." The woman turned to go into the back. "Don't come—"

He flash-stepped and dropped a hand on the old lady's shoulder. He gripped it, not painfully or anything, but firmly. Missus Noodles _was_ going to hear what he had to say.

"Let go," the woman demanded.

"Just answer a quick question: why would you hurt Rangiku like that?"

The shop owner looked up at his face, and there was some pain in those rheumy eyes. "You're Gin Ichimaru, aren't you? That man she came here with."

"Yep, that's me. And you didn't answer my question."

Granny looked at him warily. "I want _nothing_ to do with you Soul Reapers."

"Because...?"

Eh. The elderly woman had jerked her shoulder around, dislodging his grip. Sure, he could have easily held on, but that would have hurt the woman. Still, it was surprising to see such... vigorousness from such an old body.

"What have you Soul Reapers—and all you Seireitei elitists—done for the people of the Rukon?" the woman challenged. "You claim to protect us from Hollows or rebels or whatever new threat seems appropriate at the time, but how many of you actually walk among us, especially in these far districts? How many of your healers come to assist when disease hits? Who comes to help when there are bandits stealing our goods and women and children?"

"We—" he started to say.

"You do nothing," the woman barked forcefully, cutting him off. "You only ever come out from behind your gates when something is frightening enough to threaten you precious walled city. None of you _care_."

That rocked him back on his heels a bit. He—briefly—felt the impulse to reach back down to that bony shoulder and squeeze it painfully, but he remembered why he was here. And who he was doing this for.

While the Thirteen Court Guard Squads did occasionally send troops out to help out in the Rukongai districts, they were always some ulterior motive or another. The woman wasn't entirely wrong about how... indifferent the Seireitei was to the average Rukongai citizen, but the conclusion didn't add up. At all.

"So the moment someone becomes a Soul Reaper, they become dead to you?" he asked quietly. Eh. He noticed he wasn't smiling anymore. Imagine that. "You _do_ know that many Soul Reapers—lots of prominent ones, too, like Captain Hitsugaya, and Lieutenants Hinamori and Abarai—originally came from the Rukongai. And, really, why do you think that becoming a Soul Reaper magically changes their personality to something... not-nice. What was Rangiku like when she was a kid?"

The old lady squinted at the change of subject. "Cheerful. Pretty. Kind. Chatty. Helpful... well, sometimes, when she wasn't dozing somewhere. And hungry. _Very_ hungry" Granny Udon's eyes seemed to be looking off into the distance for a moment, and a smile touched the elderly woman's lips, before returning to her angered expression. "Why are you asking this?"

"Well, even for the eating part—_especially_ the eating part—Rangiku Matsumoto hasn't changed a bit. And I daresay that goes for the vast majority of Rukon-born Soul Reapers. They would _all_ love to take nice lunch visits to the places they grew up in, but duty calls, and all. Just because they strap on a zanpakuto doesn't make them monsters.

"Now, let me tell you about the Rangiku I know right _now_. She's brave, loyal, passionate, beautiful, caring, intelligent, funny, sociable, and lots of other things I'd probably need a thick thesaurus to put into words." He grinned slightly. "She also has her lazy streaks and she's a terrible cook, but those I can forgive her for. Oh, yes, I almost forgot. She's a _Soul Reaper_."

He leaned in closer, not threateningly, but close enough that Granny here knew he was dead serious.

"Me? I'm not really many of those things? Occasionally 'Gin' and 'sociopath' might get thrown together in the same sentence. I can count the number of people I'm truly loyal towards on one hand, and that's if I have a nasty accident where some digits get lopped off. I tend to be apathetic about most things. Only a lunatic or someone wanting to wheedle dried persimmons out of me would call me compassionate. I don't really socialize much. My humor is probably going to cause Kaname to murder me one of these days." He paused for a few heartbeats to let that sink in. "In short, I'm _exactly_ what you hate in Soul Reapers.

"At least... that was before. Back when I first joined the Thirteen Court Squads, I really was like that. Right now... well, I'm a _little_ different. I'm not going to be awarded favorite man of the year any century soon, but I'm _not_ the same man from those years ago. And do you know why?"

The woman didn't say a word.

"It's because of Rangiku. If I hadn't met her when we were kids I'd probably be a psychopath somewhere offing people for the laughs. But I met that girl, which got me thinking it might be fun trying to be more normal. To be a better person. I don't know if I'm really succeeding or not, but trying is half the battle.

"Let me tell you this: the only reason your noodle shop didn't become a slaughterhouse that one day is because of that woman you think is some heartless creature. And the only reason I haven't considered disappearing you facedown into a ditch somewhere is also because of her. Doing that would hurt her, and I'm never going to hurt Rangiku."

Ugh. His throat had almost choked on that last sentence. Gin Ichimaru, sentimental? He'd forgotten to add that to the list of things that he was not. Well, emotional or not, it was the truth. He wasn't going to hurt Rangiku.

"Which, ultimately, brings us to why I'm here, telling you these things. You hurt her, badly, when you drove her out and demanded that she never see you again. I didn't use to be a real good judge of emotion, but I know Rangiku. I know how much it pains her to be rejected by the beloved Granny Udon. And no, I'm not threatening you," he added when he saw a touch of fear in Granny's eyes. "Like I said, I don't even _consider_ it anymore. Which just shows what influence she's had on me. I have a certain blind person who I can probably call a friend standing outside. If you want, ask him whether I'm a better person with Rangiku around or not. But whatever.

"If you ever see Rangiku again, remember what I've told you. Remember little Rangiku and compare her to Lieutenant Matsumoto of the Tenth Squad. Have a nice day."

And with that he turned away from the old woman and exited the restaurant.

"I'm done here," he said quietly to Kaname. He saw the other captain just nod soberly as they started their trek back to the Seireitei.

"You know," he heard the Squad Nine captain note, "I noticed you haven't smiled a bit since leaving."

"Your mystic reishi-sensing power again?"

"No. A guess, actually. I suppose I'm right."

"Sure."

They walked on, passing into the Thirtieth District.

"I will agree, Gin, that with Rangiku you're almost pleasant to be around. And I also agree if Rangiku had never entered the picture you'd be nothing short of a monster."

"Is that a compliment to Rangiku or me? Or is it even a compliment?"

"It is. And for both of you."

"Thanks, Kaname."

"Think nothing of it, Gin." Pause. "Well, thank me by not mentioning any more of your infernal blindness jokes for the rest of the day."

Heh. He grinned . "I'll try."

* * *

Sosuke looked up from his notes as he heard the faint tinkling sound that heralded the arrival of a hell butterfly. Wonder what that could be about.

He held out a hand, and the black insect alighted on his finger.

"_Captain Aizen_," he heard the voice of Lieutenant Isane Kotetsu say in his head, "_Based on our monitoring_, _it appears that Lieutenant Hinamori will be waking up anytime now_. _Please come if you can_."

And then he was dropping his work, rapping out some quick commands to his third and fourth seats, and moving rapidly towards the hospital. He had been receiving daily updates from Lieutenant Kotetsu, and lately Momo had been showing remarkable improvement. Brain activity had been increasing, the girl had been showing responses to external stimuli, and the like. Momo was even able to breathe on her own.

There. Hospital. He was just about to enter the front entrance when he heard the sound of a gale and sensed a burst of frigid reishi.

He turned. "Captain Histugaya," he said mildly.

"Move, Aizen!" the white-haired captain snapped before pushing past him and flash-stepping up the stairs.

Well then. He wasn't going to take it personally, at any rate. While normally Captain Hitsugaya was formal—which was funny, considering the Squad Ten lieutenant's personality—the younger Soul Reaper had a tendency to forget things like politeness and honorifics when under duress.

Today probably counted, eh?

He made his way up the stairs—without flash-steps—and walked towards Momo's ward. There was a rush of people moving to and fro, all of them wearing Squad Four or physician uniforms. They seemed so busy with the situation—there was a quite a bit of medical jargon being thrown around that he didn't know—they didn't acknowledge him with more than a nod or a glance.

Normally, that was worthy of a reprimand, but he wasn't really that worried about breaches in protocol right now.

Captain Hitsugaya was already by Momo's bedside, clutching his lieutenant's forearm. He had a feeling that the Squad Ten commander didn't realize what he was doing.

He stepped closer to the bed, near enough to see how his lieutenant was doing, but far enough that he wasn't impeding the activity of the hospital personnel.

The comatose young woman still looked peaceful, unaware of the commotion she was currently causing. Truth be told, if Momo had been aware of what was transpiring, his lieutenant would be embarrassed by all the fuss.

All because he had—

No, he'd told himself he was going to stop thinking like that. Like Captain Hitsugaya had vehemently told him that day several months ago, Momo would be terribly worried if he did that. The poor girl had enough to worry about as it was.

Eh. He scratched his head. Sometimes he wondered why he was concerned. Momo Hinamori was skilled Soul Reaper—especially when it came to kido—and was an intelligent tactician. Furthermore, the lieutenant came from a stable environment, had many friends, and was happy with her career as an officer in the Thirteen Court Guard Squads. Momo had no more troubles than the other lieutenants. Heh. He'd be inclined to say that Momo was _better_ adjusted that most of the others, actually.

The only vulnerability that he _might_ consider was Momo's fierce loyalty to him, born on that night several years ago when he and then-Lieutenant Gin Ichimaru saved the young girl and several other Soul Reaper Academy students from a sudden Hollow attack. Huh. He couldn't believe he was thinking of _loyalty_ as a weakness.

To be honest, though, Momo did tend to be a bit... clingy. It didn't affect the lieutenant's performance or competency in the least, nor did it seem to have a negative impact on her social life, so he didn't dissuade it. Truth be told, he didn't mind at all. It had been a long time since he'd had any significant female influence in his life, and having the lively, cheerful Momo Hinamori assisting him in managing the squad was... refreshing.

That being said, he sometimes wondered if Momo was a bit oblivious about how others felt. The intense worry and concern on Captain Hitsugaya's face hadn't come from nowhere. Perhaps—

It was so brief he almost missed it, but he saw the comatose woman's eyelids quiver a bit. He was instantly at the bedside, opposite Captain Hitsugaya.

"Come on, Momo, come on..." he heard the Squad Ten Captain beg.

"We're waiting," he whispered. "We're here."

* * *

It was odd in this place. While Momo Hinamori could see and hear her own body just fine, everything beyond the lieutenant's body that was pitch black and silent. Occasionally the endless silence would be broken and she would see splashes of color or hear a brief surge of noise. Sometimes Momo the bursts of light and sound would form into images that she could actually recognize as people or places she had been before, or the voices of people she knew. Recently, there was the constant buzzing of background voices, like a crowd of people speaking all at once, their voices drowning each other out. The young Soul Reaper could not distinguish one voice from another, nor could she make out individual words.

Despite that, it was peaceful here, though desolate. On some days the black would be interrupted by a bright light that would appear in the distance, appearing like a wavering tongue of white fire. Momo would always try to walk to that light, only to get tired halfway through. The girl would sit down to rest, and the light would wink out, again plunging the landscape into quiet nothingness.

"_Come_ _on_, _Momo_, _come_ _on_."

The lieutenant perked up. It had been a voice! But whose? She wasn't sure. The Soul Reaper wracked her brain, matching up all the people—and voices—she could remember.

Still thinking, an object dropped out of the air and bounced off Momo's head. Startled, the young woman instinctively reached for _Tobiume_, but her zanpakuto was nowhere to be found. In any case, the object had been light and small, and save for surprising her, had done no harm.

Curious, Momo knelt down and swept the floor with her hands, searching for the object. A hand touched something, and fingers grasped it. Getting back to her feet, the lieutenant examined the small, oval object.

It took her a few moments to recognize the mundane object for what it was, a watermelon seed. Somehow, the significance of the seed belied it's nature, since the longer Momo stared at it the more she felt a rush of emotions coursing through her. Why did it make her feel so? What did this watermelon seed mean?

And then a memory of a young, scowling, white-haired boy spitting a watermelon seed into her cheek came to her. Eyes widening, Momo remembered the voice a from a few moments ago. Toshiro. _Captain_ Toshiro Hitsugaya, whom she affectionately called Lil' Shiro whenever she was sure the young captain was in a good mood.

Even with that revelation—and rediscovery of a cherished memory—she was still as puzzled as ever. That voice from earlier, pleading with her to come on. Come on to where? To what?

Thinking, the lieutenant gently sat down, frowning. She realized something was missing, an important piece of information about this landscape of unending black, but for the life of her she could not think of it.

She gazed down at the seed again, trying to remember. Another memory flashed before her, and her eyes widened.

She remembered the aborted execution of Rukia Kuchiki, and the Sokyoku's incredible destruction at the hands of the ryoka Ichigo Kurosaki. She remembered Captains Unohana, Kyoraku, and Ukitake talking to someone. But who had it been? She could not recall the name or the face. Someone... someone she cared for as much as she cared for Toshiro. It was someone involved in how she got here.

"_We_'_re waiting_. _We_'_re_ _here_."

Another voice. Again, something familiar about it. But who was waiting? Why were they waiting? And waiting for what?

She started when something light fell into her lap. Momo picked it up with her free hand, immediately recognizing this new object as a pair of glasses.

Again, another surge of emotions for such a simple object. She could recall only one other person who used spectacles, and these were not shaped like Nanao Ise's.

Her eyes flew open when she recognized them as Captain Aizen's.

With that recollection came more memories, and Momo dropped the glasses as she reached down to touch her chest. Her fingers touched a scar, a scar she had gained when _Kyoka Suigetsu_ had slammed through her chest.

Because her captain was being overwhelmed by three powerful captains. Because it only took one wrong step and she would be dead.

Suddenly a light flared in the distance. The background voices became louder, more distinct. Momo heard people talking about brain activity, and machines.

Coma.

She was in a coma!

The girl leaped to her feet, clutching the glasses and seed in her hands, and started running towards the light.

Hours later, the light didn't feel any closer, and her legs and lungs were burning. She wanted to sit down again and rest... but the moment she did that the light would close up and she would be left her in the darkness with herself.

She pushed on.

Toshiro was waiting for her. Captain Aizen was waiting for her.

She—

* * *

The first thing Momo noticed was that her eyes felt really, really scratchy. Second thing was her throat was painfully dry. Third was Captain Aizen standing over her, concerned.

She had to say something. Priorities.

"Water," she croaked. Voice sounded raspy. Then again...

The voice of a woman suddenly came into her field of vision. Isane Kotetsu, holding a paper cup. She tried to reach for it, but she felt too weak. The other lieutenant tipped the cup gently into her throat, giving a tiny sip. It felt good going down.

"More," she rasped.

"Sorry, but we have to monitor you a bit more before I can give another drink," she heard Isane apologize. "I shouldn't have given you even a sip, actually, but you didn't sound very good, so yeah. Er, excuse me, I have to examine the printouts."

And then Isane was gone, and Captain Aizen was looking down at her again. Her vision was still a bit blurry, but her captain looked... different.

No, not physically. Normally Captain Aizen expression was neutral, maybe even bland, though friendly enough. It didn't change much, except under extreme stress. That's when she saw a deadly light in Captain Aizen's eyes, but it was never directed at her or any of the squad. Last time she'd seen it, it was when they'd been in the Central 46 Chambers.

But now, she saw a deep and genuine concern in Captain Aizen's eyes, which was so different from the hard, serious gaze that was normally part of the man's expression. Now those eyes and face seemed so warm...

She tried to move a hand to touch Captain Aizen. Couldn't move one of them. Hmm?

She tilted her head to the side, away from her captain.

Toshiro? Toshiro, worried, definitely anxious. That change was even more jarring than Captain Aizen's was. Scowling Toshiro not scowling. Weird.

Ugh, she suddenly felt weaker, and her head drooped a bit.

Oh. _That_'_s_ why her hand was unable to move. Toshiro had grabbed onto her wrist.

" 'Shiro?" she slurred. So tired...

"Yeah?" the captain replied softly. She noticed that Toshiro's grip had moved from her wrist to her hand. She squeezed back. Her childhood friend didn't seem to notice at all.

Hard to believe that this guy used to be a bratty, seed-spitting, name-calling, adorable little twerp, or was currently an over-serious, humorless Soul Reaper captain. All that Toshiro was right now was deeply concerned over a close friend.

Close friend. No, not just that, not really. Heh. Toshiro had never been good at showing emotions. Goodness. It had taken this long for her to get it.

Toshiro...

* * *

Toshiro felt really, really conflicted right now. He was a captain, dammit, and a captain shouldn't be sitting here like a fool and gaping at lieutenant. A lieutenant who had been comatose because of injuries incurred in her line of duty, and was just waking now.

Lieutenant Momo Hinamori. A friend, but not really. A big sister, but not quite, either. Someone he cared about like a... what? He didn't know. He didn't want to go there. He wasn't _quite_ ready for those possibilities, yet.

"I'll see you later, Momo," he said a little too gruffly, "after the doctors have examined you." He stood to go. Eh? His hand...

Frowning, he saw that his hand was holding Momo's, tightly. Wait, when...? He, uh, should let go. He shifted his gaze back to Momo's face.

And saw a tired, peaceful grin on the lieutenant's face. He just stood there, staring, for a few moments.

No, he was a captain. He released Momo's hand—maybe a little too quickly, but _he was a captain_—and started away from the lieutenant's bed.

"Stay, Captain Hitsugaya," Aizen said to him suddenly. "I'll tell your people what has happened."

Oh, definitely _not_. He didn't need another captain—and Aizen, of all people—doing his job for him. He started to push past the Squad Five commander, and would have been out the room, too, if the older Soul Reaper hadn't physically blocked him.

"Let me pass," he growled.

"Part of my duty as a captain is to be sure the morale of my command is kept high."

He frowned at the non sequitur. Humph. Aizen was babbling now, at a time like this?

"Make your point," he said gruffly. And, okay, maybe a bit rudely. But Aizen was babbling!

"You're an intelligent person, Captain Hitsugaya. You can figure it out." The older captain smiled, nodded, and turned to leave the room. "Well, that's one point. The _other_ thing I'd like to mention is that no one except yourself is expecting you to be so damned _serious_ all the time. You're human. We all are."

He just stood there as Aizen departed. Scratching his head, he turned back to Momo. The girl still had that smile on her face, and her eyes looked filmy, moist. Must be because they were dry or whatever from being shut for so long. Or something. Yeah.

A moment later he saw Lieutenant Kotetsu stride into the room quickly, followed by at least a dozen people pushing or carrying complex looking devices. Eh.

"Ah, Captain Aizen left?" the tall woman asked him.

"Er, yes," he answered.

"Ah." The Squad Four lieutenant turned to Momo. "We're going to be running some checks on you, mostly neurological tests. I know you're still disoriented from everything, but we'll need you awake.

"Uh-huh," he heard Momo say tiredly.

He saw Isane turn to him. "Captain, this is probably going to take a while. We can take it from here."

Huh.

He looked at Momo, who was looking back at him. Just staring. Eh. He really did have work to do back at the barracks. And he had to organize his tactical groups. And train. And eat. And talk to _Hyorinmaru_. And...

Well, dammit.

He walked back to Momo's bedside. "I'll stay for a bit," he said shortly.

And Momo kept on smiling at him.


	13. Chapter 10: Collateral

**_DOWNFALL_**

by

Greg Wong

* * *

**Chapter 10: Collateral**

**

* * *

**

Well, this sucked. She was going to have to officially abort this operation.

Yenni frowned as she peeked out from behind a cart at the white walls of the Seireitei. There was _zero_ chance that she was getting there now with the Soul Reapers on high alert for her, and it just got more dangerous the longer she hung around.

At least it wasn't a total bust. The creepy-eyes had never been found, and they'd rolled along on their merry ways collecting valuable intel.

Captain Kreepysutchi, unfortunately, had gotten anti-Hollow damping fields into the prototype stage, and, judging by how fast the Squad Twelve Captain moved in the R&D area, several models of the weapons would be ready for testing—and a final model ready for combat deployment—before Lady Unohana ordered an assault. Sure, the guy was unscrupulous, egotistical, and had _the_ most hideous fashion sense, but no one could ever call Mayuri Kurosutchi dumb.

On the bright side, while the weapons research was moving as fast as she was afraid of, it fortunately wasn't moving _faster_ than expected. Sure, the damping devices would be ready for battle, but they would still be limited in number. On an even brighter side, some of the other projects—healing serums, kido-esque explosives, and whatever—were lagging behind. The Soul Reapers wouldn't have as many cards stacked in their favor when push came to shove.

Still, when the invasion kicked off they would be fighting on the Soul Reaper's home turf. Sure, the average Numero could kill any random Soul Reaper easily enough, but the higher-level Soul Reapers would be trouble. That also didn't take into account that the Seireitei was better organized, logistically and militarily, when compared to the Las Noches forces. Yeah, yeah, Lady Unohana had kicked the Hollows into shape so they'd be a coherent military force and not some wild mob, but Hollows didn't like working in groups, and it was going to show.

She frowned. Okay, _why_ the hell was she thinking these things when she should be thinking of a way to get her ass out of here?

First things first, though. She called up her remote controller and directed the creepy-eyes to roll themselves into drains or sewers. After they were all hidden away she sent the kill order. Two internalized compartments holding chemicals broke, and the combination of the two liquids mixing created an acid powerful enough to melt the creepy-eyes into puddles of plastic, glass, and silicon.

Okay, time to beat it.

* * *

Ooh, the Hollow girl was running!

Yachiru hopped down from her spot on the roof and crept after the Arrancar. The Hollow might have spotted her, but she was being really, _really_ careful with hiding her reishi. She should be calling for some Stealth Force people to do the actual following, but this was more fun. Plus, she was better at it than they were. When it got boring—or if the Arrancar did something important-looking—she'd bother Soifon.

Okay, okay, Soifon might get a little angry that Squad Two wasn't informed as soon as possible, but she could just say that she was exercising her authority in the field. Or she could have Kenny glare at everyone. Or throw a black kitty at Soifon.

Hmm, the Hollow lady was pretty good at this stuff. Kept moving, quickly but not conspicuously, always sticking to large crowds of people and ducking into alleyways when there were too many people to get through.

The Hollow girl was a pro.

Wait a second. "Hollow girl" was boring. Had to think of a nickname. Hmm. Oh. How about Fluffy. Yeah, since the Arrancar's hair was all messy and stuff. Fluffy it was.

Oops. Better catch up to Fluffy.

Well, damn. She was being tailed. She wasn't a newbie, so she wasn't going to look back and let the Soul Reaper know she knew he was there. Hmm. Doubling back and neutralizing the Soul Reaper trailing her would keep their tactical squads from converging on her. Then again, taking out the Soul Reaper—especially one skilled and powerful enough to even stick on her in the first place—was probably going to be messy. And loud.

Loud was bad. She was going to have to be really, really sneaky about this.

Hmm. Fluffy had suddenly ducked into an alley. Weird. There was an open path in front of the Hollow, so why would Fluffy just go out of her way?

Oh, dang. She knew. Fluffy must have detected her, even though she was suppressing her spiritual pressure as much as she could. She pouted. People like Ichi or Kenny or Cueball weren't even able to sense her when she didn't want to be found. Why could that Arrancar do it? Grrr.

Okay, choices. She could still try to follow the Arrancar, even though Fluffy knew she was around, or she could call in Soifon and the Patrol Corps. Ew. None of those sounded very fun anymore.

Or... third option. Beat the stuffing out of Fluffy.

* * *

Uh... uh-oh. Her tail's spiritual pressure had just skyrocketed... meaning that the Soul Reaper wasn't concerned with staying stealthy anymore. She shot a glance backwards.

Oh _hell_ no! It was Yachiru Kusajishi, lieutenant of the Eleventh Squad. There wasn't any real combat data on the Soul Reaper because no one had seen the girl fight, but considering Kusajishi hung around Zaraki all the time...

Ah, dammit. She did _not_ want to mix it up with this person. Kusajishi might fold if she kicked the Soul Reaper in the face... or she wouldn't and would proceed to—fatally—beat the crap out of her. Considering what Specialist Ise and the others _did_ know, the second scenario sounded depressingly more likely.

She reached underneath her cloak and stabbed two buttons on her control console, the first sending a panic signal to any of the other Arrancar support teams scattered around the area. If she could make it outside the last of the Rukon districts, she had a decent chance of getting some evac.

The second button started a mass data dump to any accessible receiving unit it could reach. Because of the nature of the upload, most of the files would be corrupted garbage, but at least there would be some partial copies in the event that she got whacked and couldn't deliver her own, full, copy.

Man, that was a depressing thought.

Well, at least with the little pink-haired psychopath chasing after her, the cat was out of the bag. No more hiding. Now it was matter of how fast she could run. She threw off her cloak—extra weight she didn't need at right now—and gathered her reishi around herself.

A split second later she was a hundred meters down the street after moving with her Sonìdo. She might be able to shake the lieutenant if—

"_Whoof_!" she gasped as something kicked out her legs from underneath her. She instinctively tucked into a roll so she could recover immediately from her stumble. What the hell had—

"_Gah_!" she cried as something hard hit her stomach. She recoiled from the blow and fell backwards, letting the momentum roll her back onto feet. The hell had hit... ah, crap.

Lieutenant Kusajishi had somehow gotten right up in her face without her detecting it, and apparently it was the Soul Reaper that had kicked her right before, too. The lieutenant stood a few meters in front of her, grinning.

Okay, fine. She reached behind and drew out her zanpakuto. She noticed Kusajishi's harmless-looking smile tighten a bit when her sword came into view.

Good. Distracted.

She then aimed a fast snap kick at the Soul Reaper, focusing reishi into her kicking leg. As her leg extended she fired a Bala blast straight at Kusajishi.

Huh. Well, as expected the lieutenant could dodge that, too, but the Soul Reaper was out of her way off-balance. She flashed forward with her Sonìdo and it was off to the races again.

_Whomp_.

Or... it would have if Kusajishi hadn't appeared next to her and walloped her in the side of the head. Ow. Why were there planks on here. Planks didn't grow in the wild.

She shook her head. Damn. The little maniac wasn't going to let her get away. Her only choice was to fight the damn Soul Reaper. Okay, okay. Couldn't dodge fast enough. Let the lieutenant make the first move. Counter attack with a Cero if she had a chance, Bala if not. Okay—

"_You_'_re mine_, _Arrancar_!" a raucous voice shouted out from above. Huh.

She rolled out of the way as something crashed down onto the street where she'd been standing a second before. What, though.

Eh, who cared. It was a distraction, and she sure as hell wasn't going to stick around to thank whatever it was. She was a-running out of this messed up situation.

* * *

"_Baldy_, _you dummy_!" Yachiru shrieked at the third seat. "_I had her_!"

She saw Ikkaku bristle at her name-calling. "She was about to get away from you, you little midget!"

Midget? _Midget_! "Baldy, when Kenny—" Wait a second, she was forgetting something. What was... _Fluffy_!

"Cut her off!" she yelped to Baldy. "We have to get her!"

She heard Ikkaku mutter something that sounded very naughty, but the other Soul Reaper flash-stepped after Fluffy.

Eh. Fluffy was really fast. The Arrancar was already far ahead, and it was going to be a while until she and Baldy caught up. Well, Ikkaku might be too slow, but she sure as heck could.

And then punching time.

* * *

Okay, things didn't look so bad for Yenni. Not only had Madarame startled Kusajishi enough that he could slip away from them both, but the Third Seat was also throwing out enough spiritual pressure in a threat display that it was going to screw up Kusajishi's senses... which means all she had to do was to sheathe her zanpakuto and move quietly and quickly. Okay, okay, she could do this. She could do this. She could—

...

Huh. Uh. What? She was suddenly inside a building, covered in dust and rubble. Ow. Stuff hurt. Like everything. Ouch. There also seemed to be a girl-sized hole punched clean through the wall. Hmm. Not just girl-sized. Yenni-sized.

She was staggering to her feet when the sunlight coming in through the opening was blocked off. Huh. She rubbed her eyes to get grit and mucous out of them.

Her breath caught in her throat.

Run/flee/hide/escape.

No, she wasn't going to argue with her inner voices.

She fired off a Bala into the wall opposite the figure. Had to get out of her. Couldn't take this on. Dammit, dammit, dammit.

She dashed towards the opening her Bala had created. Crap, she was half-panicking. Couldn't panic. Had to keep calm otherwise she would be—

And suddenly the figure was in front of her, fist cocked back.

And suddenly she was back outside.

"Ah... ah..." she wheezed, half-sobbing. Broken ribs. Had to get out of here. Run. Had to run...

She heard something that sounded like a violent breeze, and a pair of legs were right in front of her face. She looked up instinctively.

Captain Soifon, commander of Squad Two and the Stealth Force.

Panic.

She yanked out her zanpakuto. Soifon disappeared... and then she heard a loud snap, felt blinding pain, and saw her blade spinning away.

The Soul Reaper released her broken arm, letting her collapse to the ground.

"By the order of the Head-Captain, I'm to bring you in, Arrancar. Stop resisting, and I won't damage you further."

Well, screw that. She was scared out of her mind right now, but she was a damned Arrancar, not some pansy Whole. "Screw your head-captain, ninja-bitch!" she snarled out of fear and... well, mostly fear.

She concentrated all the spiritual energy her freaked-out mind could muster into a ball of swirling energy a meter above the ground. With a burst of a Sonìdo she was on her feet again, kicking the orb while releasing more pent-up energy.

The Cero blast sailed towards Soifon, but she wasn't going to stick around to see if it hit. She had to get back to her zanpakuto and release. If she didn't she was going to get taken apart like a chicken. Well, even if she released she'd probably _still_ get stomped on by the freaking captain, but there was a _slight_ chance she could evade long enough to get the hell to the other teams.

She charged towards her sword with a Sonìdo.

She heard something that sounded like "_Danku_" from where Soifon had stood.

She reached for her blade.

She concentrated, focusing on her previous form as an Adjuchas-class Hollow. Focused on her zanpakuto and waited for power to come bursting out over her body.

She turned back to face the Soul Reaper captain. Nowhere to be seen. Heck with it.

"Strike down, _Pata_—"

She heard a voice behind her whisper "_Nigeki_ _Kessatsu_".

She felt two spikes of blindingly hot pain at the small of her back.

And then she felt nothing.

* * *

Uh... okay.

Yachiru crouched down on the roof as she saw Fluffy topple over. Soifon had done the two-hit stabby thingy. The Arrancar was a goner.

So why was the captain lifting Fluffy up onto her shoulder? You didn't carry dead bodies away, right?

She was the blur of a flash-step, and Captain Soifon was standing next to her on the roof.

"Uh... hiya," she said cheerfully to the other Soul Reaper. "Uh... isn't that Arrancar dead already?"

Soifon stared at her for a few moments, and she stared right back, looking at the captain's energy patterns. There were yellow cat-ears floating behind Soifon which twitched to the left every half a second while also shifting from gold to black. Ooh, Captain Soifon was annoyed and a little angry.

"No."

"You did your two-hit killing strike on her, right?"

"I am a master of my zanpakuto, Lieutenant Kusajishi," Soifon said to her gruffly. "I can decide whether its twin strikes kill or not." She watched the captain turn to go, but then Soifon paused. "Oh, and I think you and I need to have a discussion on how to handle things like standing orders and when you're supposed to alert the people responsible for tracking and capture of infiltrators. I should _not_ need to get involved in something like this when it could have been handled easily by the Stealth Force. Are we clear, Lieutenant Kusajishi?"

She looked back, careful to keep her expression neutral. "Yes, Captain."

"Good." And then Soifon was gone.

She stuck her tongue out at the captain's back. She was going to tell Kenny and Kenny would...

Do nothing. Sure, Kenny would talk and talk about how he did captain stuff only so he could fight things, and nothing else, but she knew better. Kenny always went to captain's meetings and did whatever Captain Yamamoto ordered him to. If she told Kenny about what Soifon had said, her captain would just pat her on the head and tell her she should have followed procedure anyway.

You know, when she thought about it, if she had alerted the Stealth Force—and stupid Baldy hadn't rushed in like that—she probably could have stuck around to help catch Fluffy.

Eh. Oh well. She'd just go and talk to Kenny about Fluffy and what a dummy Ikkaku was. Maybe see if Kenny was still sad.

* * *

"Well, that tears it." Nanao heard Kyoraku mutter darkly.

The ten Espada, Wonderweiss, Kyoraku, Ukitake, Unohana, and herself reviewed the reports from one of the observation teams from outside the Rukongai as well as the partial data dump Laiggs had managed to send their way before the operative's capture.

Most of it was a garbled mess, but she'd devoted a good forty-eight hours to recovering what she could, and it didn't look good. Mayuri Kurotsuchi had Hollow-supressing devices in pre-production, and it looked like Laiggs was taking that very seriously. In fact, the operative had sent a total of three copies of that piece of data... and since it had been a panic data dump, it meant Laiggs was had found that information to be extremely valuable. She was able to recover nearly seventy-five percent of the transmitted data.

The other parts were equally troubling: there were partial reports of kido-based weaponry, healing serums, reishi-amplifying armor, and other projects that would be very, _very_ troublesome if they were deployed in the field.

Worse, they didn't have a clue as to their status. They could be years away from a breakthrough, or they could already be issued to Soul Reaper squads.

In any case, she had to agree with her captain's sentiment.

"Specialist Ise," she heard Unohana say to her, "have your teams identified and marked possible points of assault?"

She frowned at the question. "A few, Captain. However, the observation and reconnaissance teams did not have the time they needed to monitor patrols and deployment patterns."

She watched the older woman nod. "I see." Unohana regarded the holographic display in front of her for a few seconds. "Which two, in your estimation, would be viable points for assault?"

She blinked, then shook her head. She moved a hand over her console and highlighted two points in the southern Eightieth districts. "These two areas have the most sporadic scheduling for patrols and my teams report that heavy forces don't usually move through the area often. _However_," she emphasized, "I did also get reports that the occasionally captain-led teams will sweep the area."

"Sporadic, _Señorita_ Ise?" she heard Dordonii inquire. "Would we be able to isolate a team—captain-grade or not—if we came in by force?"

"No," she said simply. "Drive them away from our point of entry, yes, but to isolate them and eliminate them wouldn't work. They know the layout of the land better. Scouts and spies can only see so many nooks and crannies that the Soul Reapers can use to escape."

"I see," Dordonii said, stroking his moustache. "Thank you, Specialist."

She nodded. "In any case if we can establish a beachhead we'll be able to pour more troops in via garganta gates." She wrinkled her nose. "Still, with only two points of entry we can't hope to sustain an invasion when the Seireitei brings the squads down on our heads."

"We're not aiming to invade," she heard Unohana say softly.

Wait, what? She stared at the older woman. So did everyone else.

"I remember the point Tia brought up a month ago, about Ichigo Kurosaki."

She saw Gantenbainne sit up straighter in his chair. "How we don't want the kid to butting into our work?"

"Exactly, Gantenbainne," Unohana answered. "We want his attention elsewhere."

"He's only a human." That from Cirucci Sanderwicci. "What can a little brat like him hope to do to a force of Espada?"

She watched Unohana gaze at the Sèptima Espada. Cirucci looked right on back, before averting her eyes a few heartbeats later. There was silence for a few moments until she heard Unohana speak again.

"I want to make one thing clear to _everyone_ here," she heard the woman say firmly. "Ichigo Kurosaki is _not_ to be taken lightly. His only faults in regards to his combat prowess are his inexperience and lack of control of his reishi. His spiritual pressure fluctuates without rhyme or reason: at his lowest points, he has little more energy than a Whole. At his crests... his power eclipses mine. We _cannot_ run the risk that Ichigo will take command of his reishi and attack us with his power at its peak.

"Therefore, I want a small diversionary force to make a preemptive strike on the outermost Rukongai districts. I want it loud, highly visible... and civilian casualties to be kept to an absolute _minimum_. Dordonii will be command of his force, supported by Tia, Aaroniero, Luppi, and Rudobon. You five will make initial contact, and, if need be, Gantenbainne and Cirucci will assist in case the Thirteen Court Guard Squads bring in more forces than expected."

"And us, Lady Unohana?" she heard Nelliel ask politely.

"Nelliel, you, Nnoitra, and Starrk will lead a small strike force to the human town of Karakura."

"For what purpose?" she heard Starrk ask. "I have a feeling it isn't about general mayhem."

"You are correct. Nanao?"

Ah. She saw where this was going. "Yes." She turned to the seated Espada. "As Captain Unohana mentioned a moment ago, we have to keep Ichigo off balance so he doesn't appear to aid the Seireitei at an... inopportune moment. To that end, we're directing the team in Karakura Town to abduct the human girl Orihime Inoue."

Silence.

"That takes _three_ Espada?" she heard Luppi mutter incredulously.

"It's all about intimidation, Luppi," she replied evenly. "We want him to feel sufficiently threatened that he will take direct action against Hueco Mundo itself instead of going to the Soul Society."

"That seems counterintuitive, Specialist Ise," Nelliel said to her, thoughtfully. "Wouldn't he seek assistance if he felt overwhelmed?"

"It would seem. However, from what I get of Ichigo's psychological profile is that he takes threats to his companions seriously... and personally." She paused for a moment to let that sink in. "If a mere three Espada can set foot in his town and abduct someone he holds close, what could the Soul Society do? He would have to set out _himself_ to rescue the girl. It doesn't hurt that the last times Ichigo was in the Soul Society was when crises had practically frozen decision-making. To Ichigo that's going to come across as an institution too glacial to respond to so glaring a danger."

She saw the Wonderweiss nod from across the table. "The logic seems quite sound. However, would it not be less trouble to simply kill the human and be done with it?" The blond Arrancar looked at Captain Unohana for a moment. "If, perhaps, this Ichigo Kurosaki is as powerful as you suggest, can we not simply send a half dozen of the Espada and eliminate him?"

She frowned. Surely Wonderweiss would know... Oh, wait a moment.

"My apologies, Wonderweiss. I don't think you were ever completely appraised of the situation in Karakura town."

" 'Situation?' "

"Yes. I'm sure you know who Kisuke Urahara is, or Yoruichi Shihoin, or TessaiTsukabishi. Or Shinji Hirako and beings that call themselves Visoreds?"

"I do."

"Do you know where they live now, after having been driven out of the Soul Society?"

"I do not."

"Karakura Town."

She saw lavender eyes narrow. "Then our goal should be to burn this human settlement to the ground, and every human, Soul Reaper, and half-masked freak in it."

"Which goes against my goals, Wonderweiss Margera," she heard Unohana say to the Arrancar with a touch of coldness in her voice. "Furthermore, launching an attack on Karakura Town will only serve to concentrate our enemies. The Soul Society will come running once we begin attacking human settlements."

"And won't the ones cowering amongst the humans come to the Soul Society's aid once we attack there?"

"No. They are _persona non grata_ in the Soul Society. During my experiments with Soul Reaper Hollowification, the Visoreds were declared traitors and sentenced to extermination. They were saved by Urahara, Shihoin, and Tsukabishi, who were then retroactively exiled from the Soul Society. Any loyalty they felt to Yamamoto and the Seireitei has crumbled away in the last century. They will not be coming to the Seireitei's aid.

"In any case, Wonderweiss, I do not want to start a conflict in that town. If we were to send in a force powerful enough to ensure Ichigo's complete destruction—I would demand no less than myself, Ukitake, Kyoraku, and at least three Espada, for thoroughness—it would force Urahara's group and the Visoreds into action, and I have no particular desire to split our forces along two fronts. The girl will be kidnapped, and Ichigo, Kakakura Town, and everyone else living in it will be left alone. Understood?"

She saw Wonderweiss gaze at Unohana for a few heartbeats before nodding.

"Indeed."

"Good." The other woman turned to look at her. "Now, Specialist Ise, please continue."

"Yes, Ma'am." She cleared her throat. "Now, strike teams should be deployed..."


	14. Part III: Reveille

**_DOWNFALL_**

By

Gregory Wong

* * *

**_PART III: REVEILLE_**


	15. Chapter 11: Apprehension

**DOWNFALL**

By

Greg Wong

* * *

**Chapter 11: Apprehension**

* * *

Nnoitra looked down at the human town, hardening his reishi beneath his feet so he could stand in the sky. Beside him Starrk, Nelliel, Pesche, Dondachakka, Lilynette, Yammy, and Tesla also stood in the clouds.

"There," he said, pointing at the distant ground. The others turned to look where his Pesquisa probe had found the target.

He frowned as he saw three other people following Inoue. One was tall, muscular, another shorter and scrawny-looking, and the last was a petite female. Humph. Ise had said they would find Inoue wandering this part of the town at this time on this night—groceries—but there hadn't been a mention of others. Eh. Whatever. It was of no consequence.

"Very good, Nnoitra," he heard the female Espada compliment him. "You always had a very precise Pesquisa. It makes our mission that much easier."

He just scowled in response.

"Dondchakka, Pesche, Yammy," he heard Nelliel say quietly, "Engage them. Do not kill, and do not harm Inoue. Collateral damage to a minimum."

Nelliel's Fracciòn nodded and flashed downwards... followed by a bellowing Yammy. Idiot.

Oh well. Now to stop and watch.

* * *

The Arrancar had done their best to conceal their spiritual pressure after having exited their Garganta gateway, and, for the most part, they had succeeded.

It wasn't until Nelliel ordered the attack that Yammy dropped all pretenses of concealment and unleashed his substantial spiritual pressure in a heavy torrent. Pesche and Dondachakka, on the other hand, still kept their reishi as limited as possible as they moved in.

Of Orihime, Chad, Rukia—in a Gigai—and Uryu, the Quincy boy was most adept at detecting reishi, and even the tiny amounts leaking from the hiding Arrancar was enough to make him feel uneasy. When the burst of Yammy's energy reached him, he immediately deduced the hostility of the spiritual pressure's owner and called his _Ginrei_ _Kojaku_ bow into his hand while shouting a warning. A moment later a strange, tough armor flowed over Chad's right arm while a body fell to the ground, Rukia's true spiritual form stepping forth from the inanimate Gigai. Orihime summoned her guardian spirits, but unsure of what was going on, did not direct them to act.

A hastily aimed shot from Uryu carved its way into the sky towards the plummeting Yammy, joined by an energy blast from Chad and a hado spell from Rukia. With no traction in the air, the combined attacks knocked Starrk's Fracciòn off balance and sent him tumbling away towards the ground.

By this time, the patient Pesche and Dondachakka had slammed into the ground, the force of their impact momentarily stunning the four friends. Almost immediately, the smaller Fracciòn bounded forward in the blur of a Sonìdo, aiming an elbow at Uryu's head. The blow only managed to clip the Quincy's cheek as the boy shifted backwards with the speed of Hirenkyaku.

Pesche's partner Arrancar had recovered less quickly from the impact and was only now moving, aiming an open-handed thrust at Rukia Kuchiki... until it was stopped cold as Chad intercepted the strike by catching Dondachakka's arm. With a surprised grunt, the larger Arrancar twisted his body and broke the human's grip. Before he could follow up on the stumbling Chad, Rukia countered with a quick hado spell that sparked against the Fracciòn's Hierro armor. Stung, Dondachakka flashed away to prepare himself for another attack.

Uryu, meanwhile, was having difficulty opening up distance between himself and the smaller Arrancar. Pesche was very nearly his equal in speed, and the Arrancar was crafty in maneuvering the Quincy against walls and obstacles so that he could not escape.

Until, of course, Pesche crashed full on into a three-pointed golden shield. The Hollow rebounded off the unyielding barrier, cursing softly. Uryu capitalized on Orihime's intervention with a cry of "_Licht Regen_!" and a volley of arrows so thick it looked less like a flurry of bolts than waterfall of light.

There was the sound of shattering concrete as Yammy burst from the ground, having been driven below the street after being spun into an uncontrolled fall by Rukia, Uryu, and Chad. Bellowing his outrage, the Arrancar disdained his Sonìdo in favor of rushing the four friends in an asphalt-shattering lope.

* * *

Lilynette Gingerback wrinkled her nose at the seven fighters below her. Humph. Starrk had sent Yammy to fight, so why not her? She could help. Really.

"Because the three of them are more than enough," she heard Starrk say.

She frowned. Starrk was reading her mind again.

_And_, _of course, Lilynette doesn_'_t hold the power this time around_.

"One of these days," she grumbled, turning the tables on Starrk and reading the Espada's mind for a change. Starrk just gave a noncommittal shrug.

It was really kind of unfair. Because of what they were—a split-apart Vasto Lorde—one of them at any one time had full control of their powers when they had been only one Hollow. The person with control could share as much—or as little, stupid Starrk—as they wanted with the other person. Starrk had made it so she hard energy for basic Arrancar things, but not much else. She could potentially smack Yammy around, but only if she had the energy. When it was her turn to command their power, she was going to do the same thing to Starrk and make him clean her room every day.

"Oh, that's cruel, Lilynette," she heard Starrk say. "I don't _make_ you do anything."

She stuck her tongue out at the Espada.

Starrk didn't do anything about that. Whatever. She looked down at the battle beneath her feet.

The skinny guy—Ishida—had been pressed into close quarters combat by Pesche, and was using these energy sword-looking things. She could hear the loud humming of Pesche's _Ùltima_ as it slammed against those energy blades, even from way up here.

Dondachakka, on the other hand, was slugging it out with the tall human, the Arrancar using a club-like zanpakuto and Sado using that weird arm. Their fight was a lot less elegant than Ishida's and Pesche's, and the two of them were taking some nasty hits. Huh. Wonder how a human could go _mano-a-mano_ with a strong Arrancar with tough Hierro. Maybe there was more up Sado's sleeves. Or armor. Whatever.

She looked over at Yammy, who was... being Yammy. While Dondachakka didn't have the finesse of Pesche, the larger of Nelliel's Fraccìon was at least _trying_ to fight smart. Yeah, there was some nasty blows going around, but there was at least some skill involved. Heh. It was probably because Dondachakka didn't mind getting punched in the face.

And Yammy was just trying to maul Inoue and the girl Soul Reaper. Yammy had a lot more spiritual energy to toss around than the two girls, but because there was _zero_ tactics to what Yammy was trying to do the huge Fracciòn wasn't able to land a solid hit. Either Inoue's magic shield things blocked a fist, or Kuchiki—that was the name, Kuchiki—flash stepped away. And then Yammy got a face full of a hado spell.

Still.

"They can't beat Yammy, not like that, anyway," she muttered to herself as she saw Kuchiki's zanpakuto scrape against Yammy's Hierro, barely scratching it.

"True," she heard Nelliel say with a sigh. "But while they go about _eventually_ losing, they're making Yammy look like a fool."

"Count it as a blessing that your own Fracciòn are showing some brains and restraint," she heard Starrk reply dryly. She winced when she saw Yammy knock over a telephone pole.

"And I said minimal collateral damage," Nelliel mused. "He keeps this up and I'm getting involved."

She shrugged when she heard that. Didn't look like that would be a problem, though, since Dondachakka had just knocked Sado to the ground—like, for the fourth time—and the human didn't look to be getting back up. Right after that, Pesche kicked Ishida into a brick wall, and the Quincy didn't back up, either.

That looked like it distracted the Soul Reaper, who hesitated long enough for Yammy to backhand her and send her into a bunch a tiny shrubs in front of someone's house. Kuchiki kind of... flopped around before collapsing.

And that left just Orihime.

With Yammy about to stomp down on the human.

* * *

That gorilla was never going to learn.

Nnoitra grimaced and flashed to the ground, stopping Yammy a second before the Fraccìon could flatten Inoue.

"She's not to be hurt, you lumbering oaf," he spat. He flexed his arm and sent Yammy tumbling over. He heard movement at his feet and saw Inoue dashing towards Kuchiki, summoning a shield of some sort. The healing field?

He was there a moment later with the speed of a Sonìdo. He grabbed the human's wrist and jerked the girl away from the Soul Reaper. "You're coming with us, girl."

The girl struggled. He sighed. "You can't—"

"_I reject_!" the girl screamed, and suddenly something small and glowing was shooting towards his face. He jerked back, and the flying thing grazed his cheek. Felt blood.

Blood? The human had gotten past his Hierro?

He snarled and shook the girl. The glowing object immediately flew back towards Inoue, where it took the shape of part of a hairpin. The girl still squirmed, trying to get the healing shield over Kuchiki.

He growled and moved back a dozen meters with Sonìdo. The human was getting annoying.

He heard a booming sound and felt Nelliel's presence close by. "Orihime Inoue, your friends will live. Please, cease struggling."

The girl thrashed harder.

"You cannot fight us. Come peacefully, and we won't have to injure you."

The human didn't stop.

He heard the Primera Espada sigh. "Inoue, we don't—"

He heard a sudden, rumbling sound. Instinctively he sent a Pesquisa in the direction of the sound. Zero spiritual energy. He squinted, and saw a pair of lights coming down the street. One of the human's transportation vehicles. With a grunt he lugged the human—still squirming, dammit—off the road. Nelliel walked over next to him. So did Dondachakka and Pesche.

Yammy didn't.

"They can't see you standing there. Move," he growled at the larger Arrancar.

"I shouldn't have to move because of garbage like them," he heard Yammy reply.

Out of the corner of his eye he say Nelliel step forward... but no, the car was already there.

* * *

Lilynette gasped as the car slammed into Yammy. Yammy stumbled back a half-dozen steps... and the car twisted into a flaming wreck. Something had flown out of the car's windshield.

Looked like a little girl.

A little girl with a chain attached to her chest. Wailing, the Whole started towards the burning van. Hmm. Didn't look like the soul knew its body—and family—was dead and burning away to ashes. Sucked.

She was at the ground a second later after a Sonìdo, next to the Whole. Smelled tasty.

Eat/feed/hunger.

Nuh-uh. Shut up.

"You know," she said to the soul, "you're dead."

"Mommy! Daddy! Someone help them!" the girl screamed. The Whole saw her. "Please! Call an ambulance! Please!"

"Oh boy," she muttered. She crouched down next to the crying soul. "You. Are. Dead. Get over it already. Sheesh."

"But... but..." the girl stammered. The Whole looked down, seeing the chain attached to her chest. There we go. Now the soul would realize what was up.

"What's... what's _this_?" The Whole whispered. "I... when... where did this come from?"

"That's a Chain of Fate. You're dead. You're going to stick around here until some random Soul Reaper bops you on the head."

"Dead?" the girl whimpered. "But we were just driving home, and then there was a noise and then..." The Whole trailed off and started to cry again. Ah, great.

She heard heavy stamping behind her. "Now, what, Yammy?" she muttered, putting her hands on her hips and turning to the other Fracciòn.

"That fight made me hungry. Out of my way."

Wait, really? "We're not supposed to hurt Wholes, you dummy."

"Yeah, whatever."

Yammy reached for the Whole behind her. She growled and batted the large Arrancar's hand away. Ouch. Forgot how hard Yammy's Hierro was.

Yammy stared at her for a moment. And then Yammy's face went all red and veins popped up on his neck. And his face was... scary. She took a step backward.

"You little brat! How dare you touch me? I'll kill you! _I_'_ll kill you_!"

Yammy's mouth gaped open as a red ball of light swirled in front of it. Cero. Crap. She sent reishi towards her left eye for her own Cero, but she wouldn't be able to do it in time—

* * *

Nelliel blinked. One second Yammy was about to vaporize Lilynette, and a heartbeat later there was a twenty-meter furrow dug into the pavement leading away from the small Arrancar and the Whole. At the end of said furrow was a prone, dazed-looking Yammy with Coyote Starrk crouching on top of the large Arrancar, a hand latched onto Yammy's throat.

She hadn't even seen it. One moment Starrk had been up in the sky, and without so much as a blur Starrk had slammed Yammy through a street.

Yeah. The only reason she wasn't the Segunda Espada was because Starrk hadn't wanted the top position. Sometimes she forgot that. She started walking towards the pair of Arrancar when she saw Yammy drop a hand to _Ira_. She narrowed her eyes and placed her hand on _Gamuza_'s hilt. Was that fool really going assault an Espada? Granted, Yammy _did_ have immense spiritual energy, and she was one of the few who knew of Yammy's released form. Yammy's Resurreciòn could be dangerous to even Starrk... not to mention the entire neighborhood.

"You really want to go there, Yammy?" she heard Starrk grunt. As soon as the last word had left the Dècimo Espada's mouth a half dozen blue orbs of energy burst to life over various parts of Starrk's body, lighting up the night. "Let's see who's faster, me and my Ceros or you and your Resurreciòn."

She watched the two Arrancar, tensing, until she heard Yammy make a disgusted sound. She eased up as Yammy let go of _Ira_. Starrk's six readied Ceros winked out of existence, and the Espada warily let the Fracciòn up off the ground.

"Now," she cut in, "with that _unpleasantness_ out of the way, we need to leave before humans wake up and see what's happened. Pesche, a Garganta, please."

"Yes, Mistress," her Fracciòn answered, making a ripping motion. A seam split the air and a moment later a dark entrance gaped open.

And then she felt it. A thick, heavy, dark spiritual pressure. She heard movement above her head. She looked up...

And sidestepped as a massive blade slammed into the ground where she'd been standing a moment before. She flashed backwards, opening up some distance to take a look at her attacker. Young male, orange hair, massive, released zanpakuto. Ichigo Kurosaki.

"Mistress Nel!" she heard Dondachakka yell.

"No!" she barked. "Take Inoue to Las Noches. I will handle him." She put emphasis on the girl's name for Kurosaki.

The Soul Reaper's eyes blazed and she had brought up her hands up to block a massive torrent of energy that erupted from Kurosaki's blade.

Damn, but it was strong, grinding against her Hierro. With a grunt she redirected the energy blast skywards.

Hunh. Despite the briefings from Specialist Ise and the firsthand accounts of Lady Unohana, she had _not_ expected that level of force from the human.

There was the sound of a gale and Kurosaki was in her face, swinging his sword. She backhanded the blade away and aimed an open-palm thrust at Soul Reaper's chest, but no, the human had moved away in time.

Another attack came in, and this time she intercepted it with her forearm.  
She cocked her head at Kurosaki. The zanpakuto had sliced through her jacket's sleeve and was clashing against her armored skin. She sent a knee into the human's stomach, sending the boy tumbling away.

"_Ichigo_!" she heard Inoue cry from behind her. She turned back to look at Nnoitra.

"We need her at Las Noches _now_, Nnoitra," she said evenly. She heard the Cuarto Espada grunt as Nnoitra moved towards the Garganta gate.

More movement. She ducked underneath the boy's swing and threw an elbow at Kurosaki's face... which the boy surprisingly blocked cleanly. She moved against the human, swiftly, keeping up a relentless barrage of blows that the human barely countered.

Enough games. She knocked Kurosaki's zanpakuto out of alignment and sent a double-fisted blow straight into the human's chest, knocking the boy several meters down the street.

"_Ichigo_!" Inoue wailed frantically.

She disliked torturing the girl so, but this was all part of the plan. The human tried to bring her little hairpin creatures into play, but whenever Inoue did so Nnoitra would physically rattle her, breaking the human's concentration.

Had to show the Arrancar's superiority. Had to break Kurosaki's spirit.

"_LET HER GO_!" she heard Kurosaki roar from behind, the voice sounding... amplified, somehow. "_GIVE HER BACK_!"

Even more reishi washed over her, somehow. She thought the human was pouring everything out during their short battle, but apparently Kurosaki had more to bring to the fight. Wait. That was it. That was why the voice seemed so loud. It wasn't physically louder, but rather the illusion of volume as Kurosaki's desperation and anguish and fury permeated the wildly flowing spiritual energy.

She stole a glance behind her. Dondachakka, Pesche, and Tesla looked uncomfortable, and Starrk and Lilynette had actually moved next to the half-forgotten Whole to shield the soul from the rampant energy.

"_BANKAI_! _TENSA ZANGETSU_!" A pillar of black spiritual energy, glowing somehow despite its darkness, shot up into the clouds.

Well, damn. There was a... shimmer in the air, moving towards her.

Ugh. She barely moved in time. The human had tried to slip past her to move against Nnoitra, but she'd managed to grab onto the Soul Reaper's sleeve... and slam him into the ground. Before Kurosaki could recover she punted the Soul Reaper away.

The air itself seemed to shake from another reishi-amplified howl, and Kurosaki was moving at her, sword held high. She crossed her arms to block the blow... and gasped.

She felt blood on her arms as the zanpakuto—now a thin daito—sliced through skin and flesh, and for a moment Kurosaki's dark spiritual energy started to completely smother her. She strained—and started to falter—against the raw strength of the boy... until the reishi abruptly diminished. One of those fluctuations Unohana had told them about. A chance. Take it.

She wrenched the zanpakuto up and away and clamped a hand onto the front of the Soul Reaper's shihakusho, balling her other hand into a fist. She sent energy into it, and a violet, circular arc appeared over her hand. She threw a powerful blow straight into the human's chin, releasing her Bala blast just as she connected.

Kurosaki sailed back dozens of meters, crashing into several cars before sinking to the ground. The boy didn't get back up.

She turned her back on the fallen Soul Reaper and motioned to the other Arrancar. She grimaced at the blood that stained her uniform.

"We're done here," she said, panting as she looked back at the unconscious Kurosaki. "Let's go."


	16. Chapter 12: Skirmish

**_DOWNFALL_**

By

Greg Wong

* * *

**Chapter 12: Skirmish**

* * *

Kaien heard loud, urgent knocking at his door.

He was out of bed and half-dressed before he was a completely awake.

"Enter!" he called. The door slid open and Sentaro appeared, panting.

"Lieutenant! Stealth Force scouts report that a small Arrancar force has appeared outside the eastern Rukon districts and is destroying everything in its path. Squads Seven and Nine have already engaged the enemy and are requesting assistance from any supporting squads.

"Understood," he said tightly, sliding his sheathed zanpakuto into his sash. Kiyone had had patrol duties for the night. "Inform teams Four, Five, and Six to prep for Pattern Oni and be ready to go in five minutes."

"On it, Lieutenant!" Sentaro barked before flash-stepping away.

He finished dressing and knelt down on the floor of his room, raising his arms in front him. He formed his hands into a vaguely rectangular shape.

"Black and white net, twenty-second bridge, sixty-sixth crown and cincture. Footprints. Distant thunder. Sharp arrow, rotating land, cover of night. Sea of clouds, pale soldiers... form a circle a circle and then charge through the heavens. Bakudo seventy-seven, _Tenteikura_!"

The rectangle formed by his hands flared and an image appeared within it, showing Kiyone's face. The Third Seat turned to look into the window that had appeared on her end.

"Lieutenant Shiba!"

"Kiyone, what've we got?"

He saw the woman frown. "Doesn't look good. About sixty to seventy Arrancar are assaulting through the Rukongai. At least five of them are letting off captain-class spiritual pressure, and their gate thing is still open. They're leveling everything they can reach, and Squads Seven and Nine are having trouble protecting the people and halting their attack at the same time. Captain Komamura has already unleashed his bankai and I think Captain Tosen is a couple of minutes away from doing the same. Squad Two and Stealth Force agents are probing the enemy and preventing them from slipping around the combat squads."

"Understood. What's your evaluation?" Since Kiyone was in the field, observing the battle in real time, the woman's suggestions would be better than his own. He was trusting the younger Kotetsu's judgment.

"Uh... well, I think Komamura and Tosen can stonewall the attack if someone can keep the Arrancar from flanking them. As it stands they really can't push forward without worrying about getting hit in the sides. Probably going to need support from us, too, and one of the tactical squads to assault and seal the entry Gargantas."

"Understood. Assist the combat squads as best you can, but don't get heavily engaged until we can get there. I'll get the closest tactical squad focused on the Garganta, as well. Get me coordinates as soon as you can."

"Got it."

He cut the kido connection to Kiyone and directed another towards Captain Aizen, who would have the closest tactical group to the battle. He appraised the bespectacled Soul Reaper of the situation.

"As soon as we have the exact site of the Garganta I'll contact you, Captain."

"Thank you, Lieutenant. Out."

He snapped the kido shut. Right. He readjusted _Nejibana_ one last time and left his room. Outside were sixty Soul Reapers of Squad Thirteen—the teams he'd sent Sentaro to get.

"We're moving into support positions of Captain Komamura and Captain Tosen. When we get on site, I want Team Four to take the southern flank while Five takes the north. Six, you hold the sky. We need to keep the Arrancar from their flanks them so they can drive them back. Let's go."

He flash-stepped into the sky, followed by the others. He looked behind him. Damn. He wanted to pour on more speed, but if he did that the slower members of his squad would be left behind. And if they were to fight an enemy projected to be as powerful as the Arrancar, he needed discipline.

Fifteen minutes and they were there. Not bad timing, all things considered. Quick evaluation: Captain Komamura's giant _Kokujo Tengen Myoo_ bearing the brunt of the attacks while the dome-like structure of Captain Tosen's _Suzumushi Tsuishiki Enma Korogi_ stood a few meters behind the giant bankai. Hmm. The Squad Nine captain had probably trapped several Arrancar within it and was engaging them there. The regular forces—he saw Shuhei and Tetsuzaemon—were following the spearhead of their captains. The Hollows were slowly pushed out of the outermost Rukon area, but as soon as they were out in the open the Arrancar moved to attack again, hitting the squads in the flanks and forcing them to withdraw back into the cover of the buildings.

He drew his zanpakuto. Concentrate on its released form, and the strength it would lend him.

"Rankle the seas and the skies, _Nejibana_!" he roared as he dropped from the sky.

Two white-clothed human-looking soldiers—Arrancar—who had been harassing Squad Seven's flanks looked up in surprise... and then he slammed down in the ground.

A torrent of watery reishi exploded out of _Nejibana_'s trident-like form, surging out in all directions. He directed the flood away from the other Soul Reapers and sent it crashing toward the Arrancar's lines.

"Kaien!" he heard someone call to him. He turned. Tetsuzaemon. "We were getting lonely out here! These Arrancar don't play very nice."

"Never took you for the greedy type," he answered with a grin. He turned as his teams took up their positions on the battle squads' flanks, allowing them to focus on the enemy in front of them.

He did what he could, moving back and forth when his teams were being pushed hard. He heard a sound like static, turning just as an Arrancar's zanpakuto tried to take off his head. He brushed the attack aside with _Nejibana_'s shaft, and, in the same motion, tore open the Hollow from hip to shoulder with an upward slash. He then used _that_ momentum to call up a wall of water as another Arrancar fired some kind of reddish energy ball at him, dispersing the attack. Three of his squad members immediately turned to engage the enemy.

Phew. He fell back to catch his breath for a moment. While he never wasted a motion with _Nejibana_—he was always precise and methodical with his motions, like, as Miyako used to say, a dancer—but battle was strenuous no matter how economical you were. He could—

He blinked.

Something was wrong, here. He frowned and flash-stepped into the sky.

What the hell? There were at least twenty Arrancar bodies lying over the battlefield, in various stages of dissolution. All of those were built like a slim male with a helmet-like mask shaped like a human skull. And all the living Arrancar were also identical and made no sound whatsoever as they moved and attacked and died.

He also noticed that five white-garbed shapes were hanging back from the battle lines, standing in the sky. Four of them looked humanoid, while the last... didn't.

Couldn't make out the details, dammit, but the last looked like part man and part tree. As he watched, some of the "branches" shivered as six round, gray shapes popped out of the limbs.

And then the round objects grew _bodies_ to go with them before they dropped to the ground.

Identical bodies...

Crap.

He flash-stepped down and forward, dodging around straining Soul Reapers, towards Captain Komamura.

"Captain!" he called to the huge Soul Reaper.

"Busy, Lieutenant!" he heard Captain Komamura bark as the wolfish captain swung. _Kokujo Tengen Myoo_ mimicked the motion and swatted three clone-Arrancar from the sky.

"Captain! One of those Arrancar in the rear area! It's spawning more and more of those fodder Arrancar!"

He saw the Captain's ears twitch. "I understand. As it stands, though, there's not much I can—" Captain Komamura stopped midsentence, roared, and swung, huge bankai following suit— "Do about it. It's taking all of my effort—and Captain Tosen's, too—to keep those things from overwhelming my people."

Dammit.

"I'll see what I can do, sir," he said before taking to the sky again.

He _should_ be scouting out the Garganta, but that didn't look like the immediate problem right now. As far as he could tell no new Arrancar were arriving from Hueco Mundo. Any new bodies were from that tree-man's branches. Fine.

"Team Six!" he called to his aerial team. "We need to move in and neutralize the Arrancar in the rear area that's providing support for their forces. Follow me in!"

* * *

Shuhei heard a tearing sound from his left. With a grunt, he kicked the dead Arrancar he had just impaled off his katana.

He saw his captain's bankai split apart into pieces of shadow, revealing Captain Tosen... and at least twenty Arrancar that had been trapped inside with him.

The Hollows slowly slumped to the ground.

"Shuhei, Third Seat Kanisawa, assist Lieutenant Shiba's men. Captain Komamura and I can hold the attack here. Curtail the clones!"

"Yes sir!" he called and took to the sky, following Kaien. He glanced behind him and saw Moriko hot on his tail.

Squad Thirteen's troops had a few hundred yards start on him, so he had to watch as the lieutenant and twenty troops moved in on the five Arrancar in the sky. Kaien dashed for the one that looked vaguely like a plant and...

...Was stopped cold as the tall, mustachioed Arrancar blurred in front of the Squad Thirteen lieutenant... and knocked his trident away with a bare hand.

The other Arrancar—a blond, dark-skinned woman with a shark-like mask, a tall, slim male with a face fully concealed behind a tall helmet, and a slender, somehow effeminate male—all moved in a haze of reishi.

And started slaughtering the Squad Thirteen attack force.

Twenty Soul Reapers. Eight dead in half as many seconds.

And the Arrancar hadn't even drawn their blades.

Damn them. He focused on zanpakuto, and the form it took in its shikai. Why he hated its shape so much... but he could save at least some of his fellow Soul Reapers with it.

"Reap, _Kazeshini_," he whispered.

His zanpakuto writhed in his hands, glowing green, and split apart into two dual-bladed, scythe-like shapes connected to each other by a black chain at the butts of their shafts. He flash-stepped as close as he could and flung out one scythe at the Arrancar-generating figure.

The Hollow snarled and batted the spinning weapon away with a weirdly-shaped wooden cane, even as the Arrancar's branches and roots withered away into splinters and the cane transformed into a katana.

What—yah!

He barely brought his other scythe in time to prevent the Arrancar—this one with a bull-shaped mask—from sticking a blade through his face. The damn Hollow was so _fast_. He yanked his thrown scythe back to his hand and lashed out with it, but the Hollow had disappeared from his sight.

He felt prickling at the back of his neck. He turned, bringing up _Kazeshini_ into a defensive position. The bull-headed Arrancar's katana slammed into his zanpakuto, sending him staggering back from the force of the blow.

The Hollow blurred forward. Too fast. Was going to stab him before he could—

"Shuhei!"

At the last minute, the Arrancar hesitated, looking to the side, and _just_ got his scythes into position to deflect the attack. Even still, he was shoved back by the sheer strength of the enemy.

Moriko moved in to engage the bull-head Arrancar with her zanpakuto, in its sealed form a green-handled nagamaki. The long-handled sword weaved and whirled as the third seat attacked the Arrancar. The Hollow slammed a shoulder into the girl, sending Moriko tumbling back. Fortunately, the third seat had used the momentum to roll herself into a crouch. He saw Moriko bare her teeth.

"Rend, _Hisuikiba_!"

The third seat's weapon was enveloped in a bright jade light, lengthening and thinning out. When the glow faded, _Hisuikiba_ had shifted form into a three-section, dual-bladed spear. Moriko again moved to attack, using the unpredictable nature of the weapon to push the Arrancar back.

He flung out _Kazeshini_ again, arcing it through the air towards the Hollow, but the damned Arrancar was fast enough to simple duck out of the Arrancar moved—fast, so damned fast!—and batted Moriko's zanpakuto out of guard position, sinking his zanpakuto to the hilt in third seat's belly. He heard the girl scream as the Arrancar twisted and withdrew the blade. He watched his old classmate fall towards the ground.

The scream brought back memories of a training exercise that had gone horribly wrong. A training exercise where a friend had died and another had been at death's door for several days.

No. Not again. Not like last time...

He looped _Kazeshini_'s chain and flung it at the Moriko's body, where it wrapped around the girl's ankle and prevented the third seat from plummeting to the ground.

He drew back his free arm, focusing spiritual energy towards it. He had to slow down that Arrancar, or he'd be cut to pieces.

"Bakudo sixty-two, _Hyapporankan_!"

A rod of violet energy popped into existence in his hand, and he snapped it forwards towards the bull-head Arrancar. A few meters after leaving his hand, the kido rod split apart into a dozen separate shafts as they sped towards the Arrancar. The Hollow's Sonìdo allowed him to dodge almost all of them.

Almost.

He heard the Arrancar snarl as one of the _Hyapporankan_ rods sank into a shoulder, pinning the enemy in the sky. There, a chance!

He spun, sending _Kazeshini_ at the Arrancar, who had started hacking away at the kido construct. That was when he heard an odd whining sound...

_Flash_.

...And then he falling towards the ground.

Wha... what? Everything on his body hurt. Felt burned. Ouch. Vision was blurry. Something yellow had flashed just before... this.

He saw—just barely—another flash of yellow. Huh. The female Arrancar with the messy blonde hair and shark mask had just swung an arm in a wide arc. Big yellow beam. Huh. Cero. He'd been hit by a cero.

He saw the bull-head Arrancar diving at him. Couldn't dodge. Couldn't defend. Was going to die. And there were pink things floating by, too.

Wait, what.

A mass of glinting pink particles came rushing out at the bull-head, and the Arrancar flashed away with Sonìdo before it could hit him.

"Bakudo thirty-seven, _Tsuriboshi_," he heard a voice say. His fall abruptly stopped as he landed in something soft. He heard a soft impact to the side. Ah. Moriko. Looked like the other Soul Reaper was breathing. Not dead. That was nice.

He felt really tired all of a sudden. Really, really—

* * *

"This is going to be something new to me," Nanao said to no one in particular as she drew her tanto-sized zanpakuto. "Not sure if it'll work."

"So concentrate instead of talking to yourself," she heard Kyoraku chide her from behind.

"Oh, be quiet, you," she shot back. "Bad enough that you're crowding me."

"You say that like it's a bad thing."

She snorted. She concentrated, calling up the memory of her released zanpakuto to her mind. She leveled her blade at the Garganta gate where Dordonii and the strike force had passed through.

"Bring the horizon to me, _Shokomaru_."

She finished the release command and opened her hand. _Shokomaru_ hovered in the air before it began to spin rapidly, glowing white. Pieces of light fragmented off the spinning zanpakuto, each portion taking up a position around her. As the last of the pieces broke off, the two dozen motes of light surrounding her flashed brightly, expanding into large, glowing, rectangular shapes, about a meter from one corner to the opposite. In each of those shapes was an image of the Garganta's swirling murkiness.

Well, that wouldn't do. She concentrated, trying to spread the power of her shikai past the chaotic energies of the Garganta and out the other side.

Come on.

The images on the screens flickered into static before turning completely black... and then the darkness vanished, showing the chaos of a battle.

She breathed a sigh of relief.

"Are you okay, Nanao?" she heard her captain ask with concern.

"I'm fine," she grunted. "The Garganta was just a little... harder to peer through than regular air."

"Okaydokes."

She snorted again. She moved her hands, and the positions of the screens shifted. Kaien Shiba was taking on Dordonii, and was rapidly being driven back. She grimaced. It was one thing to hear about battles and afteraction reports, but it was entirely something else to actually see it, firsthand.

She looked away. The Segundo Espada had managed to close in on Kaien and slam the lieutenant towards the ground with a heavy kick. Dordonii sent a Bala blast after the plummeting Soul Reaper, and she winced.

She flipped the screens, just in time to see Shuhei Hisagi shot out of the sky by Tia. Before the Squad Nine lieutenant could hit the earth, a kido spell—looked like _Tsuriboshi_—caught Shuhei and Moriko Kanisawa, who also looked badly wounded.

Hmm. She rapidly switched between screens. Hmm. Looked like several captains and lieutenants had arrived as reinforcements. The situation wasn't going to be tenable for the Espada. She could see the glinting fragments of Captain Kuchiki's shikai as well as the frost that accompanied Captain Hitsugaya's _Hyorinmaru_.

She gestured and switched views, watching the strike force begin withdrawing towards the Garganta. Rudobon's Calaveras could, of course, be left to give the Espada room to escape. They were easily replaceable.

She moved her screens back and forth as she watched the Arrancar enter the Garganta. As the last—Dordonii—entered, the gate began to seal itself shut.

With a nod she resealed her zanpakuto, the screens converging and reforming into the tanto.

She staggered suddenly. Ugh. So weak...

Arms caught her as she started to collapse.

"Whoa, lil'Nanao!" she heard Kyoraku exclaim. "Are you sure you're all right? You're pale."

And her knees were starting to shake. And her skin felt clammy. Looked like her shikai wasn't ideal for spying across Hueco Mundo, the Dangai Precipe world, and part of the Soul Society in one sitting. She'd need to find a way to boost her range, somehow. She'd have to put her head together with Syazel Aporro and maybe Cirucci.

She straightened out. Okay, no wobbles, and her strength was returning quickly. She pushed away from the captain.

"Good?" Kyoraku asked her.

"Yeah." She took a step forward. Okay, she was fine. "I have to get a preliminary report drawn up. I trust that you'll help me?"

"Me? Help you? You're acting like I'm not your captain anymore."

She grumbled. Kyoraku liked to do that to her sometimes, that man. "You were right next to me. You probably caught things that I missed."

"Uh... you were moving through them too fast. I couldn't get a good look."

She frowned. "They only changed every minute or so. Don't give me that."

She heard Kyoraku sigh. "Nanao, even back when we were wearing shihakushos I told you the same thing. You flip through your magic TVs so damned fast. A minute? Try a few seconds."

She blinked. "Really? I tried to go extra slow this time."

"You process information much faster than most observers, so I guess it feels adequate to you." Kyoraku cleared his throat. "Eh, immaterial. Since our Intelligence Specialist is asking so nicely, I can act as your sounding board. Just don't go collapsing into my arms again. I might start to like work."

She rolled her eyes.

* * *

"Hmm, so those were the Espada," Renji panted.

A lot of heavy hitters had shown up to the battle, including Captains Aizen, Ichimaru, Hitsugaya, and Kuchiki, plus Rangiku, Ikkaku, and himself. And that didn't mention at least sixty Soul Reapers of various ranks.

And it had basically been a damned draw.

Officially, the captains had forced the Espada through the Garganta. Unofficially, it looked like the Arrancar hadn't really put up much of a fight before withdrawing. Only one of them, identified as Rudobon, had actually released his zanpakuto, and that was only to generate the clones. So, at the end of the day, the Espada hadn't unleashed their zanpakutos, acres of the Rukongai had been burned to the ground, eighteen Soul Reapers had been killed, twice that many seriously injured, and Shuhei Hisagi, Moriko Kanisawa, and Kaien Shiba had been badly hurt. And the Arrancar had basically lost no one.

On the bright side, the captains—save for Captain Komamura and Captain Tosen—hadn't gone full out, either, since the spiritual energy release from so many bankais in such a relatively small area would have started to choke out the unseated Soul Reapers.

Clouds, silver linings, whatever.

He walked through the crowded battlefield where Squad Four members were working frantically to heal the wounded. He frowned when he saw Kaien sitting up, waving away the healers.

"I'm stable," he heard the Squad Thirteen lieutenant growl. "I'm not going to drop dead from just sitting here! Focus on my men."

He blinked as the medics hurried away. "Stable?" Kaien had at least three deep slash wounds over the his torso, and several lighter ones along his arms. And refusing treatment, huh? No wonder Rukia thought highly of this guy.

"You know, sitting up isn't going to _help_ those wounds," he said to the other lieutenant.

He heard Kaien grunt as the older man leaned back onto some bundled blankets. "Renji. Thanks for the help."

He shrugged. "It was mostly the captains doing the heavy lifting. None of us lieutenants had any business getting mixed up in fight between Espada and captains."

"All the same, you helped us change the momentum of the battle and managed to secure the area and give Squad Four the room they needed to get to work. And don't sell yourself short. You've got a bankai. So, thanks."

"Well, in that, case, you're welcome." He looked over the wounded Soul Reapers around him. Damn. At least fifteen more wounded, and a bunch of them would be laid up for weeks. Isane and the rest of the medics were doing all they could.

He felt tired. Adjusting _Zabimaru_ in its sheath, he sat down next to the other lieutenant.

"If this was just a skirmish force, I hate to think of what happens when the Arrancar get serious," he murmured.

"Yeah," he heard the other lieutenant reply.

He watched the Squad Four soldiers work.

"Is it true you two met when she drop-kicked an angry merchant?" he heard Kaien ask. Hmm. He noticed the slight slur in the other lieutenant's voice. Fatigue and blood loss, must be. Kaien probably wasn't fully lucid.

"Huh?"

"Rukia."

"Oh." He smiled. Well, Rukia had tripped the guy, but close enough. "Yeah, that's right. He would've skinned me if he'd caught me." Wait a second. "She told you that?"

"Yeah. Talks about you a lot, you know."

That was a surprise. Or was it? Who the hell knew? "Same about you, you know."

"You don't say?"

"Yup."

Silence again. Maybe sitting next to Kaien Shiba hadn't been such a good idea, after all. Rukia really did talk about Kaien a bit. Maybe he should be jealous or something. But _why_? It wasn't like he and Rukia were, you know...

"How do you like Rukia?" he heard himself ask. Oh, where the hell had that come from? Wow, he was _really_ tired.

Kaien didn't reply for a few moments. "Well, she's a good soldier. Smart. Strong, too. She'd easily have the third seat ranking if her brother allowed it. As it stands, Sentaro and Kiyone ask her for advice." He heard the other Soul Reaper chuckle. "She reminds me of... never mind."

He looked over. Kaien had suddenly looked grim. "Reminds you of who?" he asked.

"It's nothing. Probably not worth your interest."

"Try me."

The other lieutenant looked off in the distance. "Rukia reminds me of my wife, Miyako."

He blinked.

"Beautiful, graceful, intelligent, skilled, and caring of the other squad members. Sure, she's a bit, uh, rough in the feminine mannerisms department, but that's not really a bad thing. I don't think so, anyway. And..." he heard Kaien trail off. "Yeah. I think that's enough." The other lieutenant cleared his throat. "What about you?"

He blinked again. What was Rukia to him? Hell if he knew. He sighed. If Kaien had at least put some thought into a response, he could, too.

"I'm... not sure myself. We grew up together. Had to watch each other's backs. Shared what we could buy or steal. Life was tough."

"I've been around the Rukon Districts. I know."

"Still, the friends we grew up with... they all died young. Disease, injury, whatever. Just us two left. We had enough spiritual energy to get into the Soul Reaper Academy, and the rest you know, I think. Graduated, Rukia got adopted by the Kuchiki clan—it took Lady Hisana decades to find Rukia—I bounced between Squads Eleven, Five, and Six, and Rukia ended up with you guys."

He looked down at the ground. He hadn't really answered Kaien's question, come to think of it. Rukia. Him and her. Did he—

"Kaien, your men are all stabilized." He jerked when he heard a voice. Isane. "Now, I'd better have _you_ patched up."

He saw the Squad Four lieutenant bend over Kaien. "Oh, goodness. You told my people to leave you alone? You've got serious injuries, Kaien!"

"Had worse," he heard Kaien grunt.

He got up as Isane channeled reishi towards the Squad Thirteen lieutenant's injuries. "I'll... see you around," he said to Kaien.

"Yeah."

* * *

"No," Retsu disagreed. "I think the strike was an overwhelming success.

She watched Dordonii shake his head. "All things considered, we didn't do much to them, _Señora_ Unohana. At best, twenty Soul Reapers dead, and not that many more wounded."

"And yet you suffered no losses, and you inflicted enough damage to the Runkongai that Nelliel and her team was able to slip into the World of the Living and complete her objective virtually unopposed.

"Ah, the human girl," she heard Tia say from her position to Dordonii's right. "I have heard that she is quite powerful, in her own way."

She nodded. "It is hard to compare Orihime Inoue to ourselves, or judge her by the usual standards," she said. "We'll have to see."

The Tercera Espada leaned back thoughtfully, tapping her mask remnants.

"Unfortunate that I did not have a part in either task." Wonderweiss.

"You are still on..." she searched for the word, "probation, Wonderweiss. If you are to become one of the Espada, you must learn how they operate. I cannot in good conscience integrate you into the ten without any training."

"Training," the Hollow muttered. "One would think that you were still commanding Soul Reapers, Lady Unohana."

"Funny, that thought," she said, staring hard at the newest Arrancar.

Wonderweiss just bowed slightly and waved his hand in concession. "I do not mean to belittle your efforts, Lady Unohana. However, you must understand I am still adjusting to this... ambitious vision of yours."

She chuckled dryly. "Eventually, Wonderweiss, eventually." She turned to the Espada. "With this complete, we must wait now. It is the Soul Society's—and Ichigo Kurosaki's—turn to act." She leaned back in her seat. "In the meanwhile, we must use the intelligence gathered in this battle. The devices created by Mayuri Kurotsuchi may prove troublesome."

"Yes," she heard Rudobon agree. "From what I understand of the machines, they are specially made to dampen Hollow spiritual energy. Since the Calaveras generated by my Resurreciòn are made up solid, manifest reishi, they were severely weakened when one of the devices was fielded."

"Luckily," Dordonii added, "The device arrived too far into the battle to make a significant difference, and there was only one of them. In any future encounters, we need to neutralize them immediately."

She turned to Nanao. "Ise, I think we'll need to address that problem."

"I am already working on it, Captain."

"Very good." She turned to Nelliel, who, she noticed, was only wearing the uniform's sleeveless tunic and not the jacket. The Primera Espada's arms were bandaged. "And I assume, if anything, I had _under_estimated Ichigo Kurosaki."

Nelliel grimaced. "Indeed, Lady Unohana. At one point, I felt that Kurosaki was going to overwhelm me through sheer spiritual pressure." The Arrancar motioned to her forearms. "However, you were correct in that his spiritual energy fluctuates without rhyme or reason. I was able to incapacitate him when his power ebbed."

Nelliel fell silent, and she noticed that the Espada looked slightly... troubled. Hmm. She would see what was on the woman's mind later.

In the meanwhile...

"Thank you, Nelliel." She focused her gaze on the other Espada. "In any event, the bait is set, and all we must do is prepare for the Soul Society's response. "In light of the information we have gained, points of assault can be initiated at these locations..."

* * *

_Author's Note: Dramatis Personae/Author's Note section section has been updated._


	17. Interlude: Cast & Notes 3:3:2012

**_DOWNFALL_**

By

Greg Wong

* * *

**AUTHOR'S NOTES**

**10-30-2010:** As I've gotten some questions as to who's who in this alternate universe, I've drawn up a truncated cast of characters. By Bleach's nature of loads and loads of characters, I haven't included everyone, of course. That would just be insane. Also, since the story is still a work in progress, the dramatis personae is not finalized, either. Character names are a mishmash of "official" names and the names that I prefer. (I prefer Soifon and Tesla to the official "Sui-feng" and "Tesra", for example.) Characters will be added or deleted from the list as I see fit. And, to answer a question I _know_ I will get: no, Grimmjow and Ulquiorra are not part of the current Espada. Also, I will be updating the notes and dramatis personae, so make sure to look at the date on the chapter list.

**11-19-2010**: Sorry about the delay. Haven't had time to write out many new chapters. Anyway, I did get a question concerning characters who _aren_'_t_ on the dramatis personae cast list. Just because they aren't there doesn't (necessarily) mean they don't exist in this universe; it just means I don't consider them important enough to the story to earn a position.

**1-09-2011**: I went and made up some zanpakuto for Nanao Ise and Moriko Kanisawa. I don't know a scrap of Japanese, so I just used a English-Romaji translator and mashed some words together. Nanao's _Harimaru_ is intended to mean "Glass Circle", alluding to a lens, which itself alludes to what its shikai can do. Moriko's _Suigyokukiba_ is intended to mean "Jade Fang", just because I thought it sounded cool, and Kanisawa's made-up given name means forest child. You know, forests are green? Yeah. Anyway, if I made an error in rendering the spellings, let me know so I can fix them. Also added Menoly and Loly to the cast list. Don't expect them right away, however.

**2-4-2011**: I liked the suggestions I got for Nanao's and Moriko's zanpakuto names, but I haven't implemented them yet. Soon. With modifications. And sorry for the delay.

**3-26-2011**: Man, on man. It's been way to loong since I've updated. Sorry. Been busy with stuff. Anyway, I've updated the character sheet a bit-nothing too big-and changed the names of Moriko Kanisawa's and Nanao's zanpakutos. Hopefully, I'll be able to stay updated more frequently, haha.

**5-7-2011**: So, kind of missed my deadline. I try to get something done and uploaded on the last Friday of every month, but I was busy. So yeah. Racheakt, thanks a bunch for making that TVTropes page. I'm surprised that multiple people are editing it too. (For those curious, the tropes page is http:/ /tvtropes. org/pmwiki. php /FanFic/Downfall (just delete some of the spaces and feed it into your browser). Any edits are welcome and at your discretion. As author I won't do any editing myself). Anyhow, just wanted to thank everyone for all the feedback, advice, and proofreading everyone has given. If it helps make this story better, I'll take it. By the way, Racheakt, you left that great review and some PMs that I'd like to respond to, but it looks like your PM system is turned off. No way to talk to you in that case, man. To that extend that to anyone, if anyone wants to toss me a PM with questions, critiques, or suggestions, drop me a PM (or drop me a review, wink wink). I'll try to answer them, I swear. Don't look at me like that, dammit!

**6-25-2011**: Finally managed to get something typed out. The plot is picking up, and I'm struggling as much as before. Not much to mention (other than that the TVtropes entry is awesome), but that I hope people still keep up with the story. Anyway, if anyone noticed, I made up a release command for Unohana's zanpakuto. It's going to fit in with how I'm reinterpreting her character, I think. Hope I'm not overdoing it with Kenpachi. As one of my beta readers said to me "Poor Renji, even Kenpachi is better at kido than you are." I laughed.

**8-26-2011**: To those wondering who Emilou, Franceska, and Cyan are, they are the confirmed first names of Apache, Mila-Rose, and Sun-Sun, respectively. Also, for Yachiru's zanpakuto, it was my attempt to name it "obsidian thorn". Don't know if I got it right. If I didn't someone drop a review of a PM so I can get a better translation.

**12-8-2011**: I really have no excuse as to why this damned chapter took so long to come out. I could cite IRL, but... really? Over three months? Gah. Water under the bridge. In any case, I _hope _I can keep up with regular updates now. Sorry to you readers for taking forever.

**3-3-2011**: Kind of an underwhelming chapter, given how long it was between updates. Don't worry, I'll actually put more meat on the next one.

* * *

**DRAMATIS PERSONAE**

(* Denotes Viewpoint character)

* * *

**SOUL SOCIETY**

***Renji Abarai** – Soul Reaper male; Lieutenant, Squad Six

***Sosuke Aizen** – Soul Reaper male; Captain, Squad Five

***Momo Hinamori** – Soul Reaper female; Lieutenant, Squad Five

***Toshiro Hitsugaya** – Soul Reaper male; Captain, Squad Ten

***Gin Ichimaru** – Soul Reaper male; Captain, Squad Three

**Moriko Kanisawa** – Soul Reaper female; Third Seat, Squad Nine

**Sajin Komamura** – Soule Reaper male; Captain, Squad Seven

***Isane Kotetsu** – Soul Reaper Female; Lieutenant, Squad Four

***Byakuya Kuchiki** – Soul Reaper male; Captain, Squad Six; Head of the House of Kuchiki

**Hisana Kuchiki** – Whole female; Wife of Byakuya Kuchiki

***Rukia Kuchiki** – Soul Reaper female; Squad Thirteen

**Mayuri Kurotsuchi** – Soul Reaper male; Captain, Squad Twelve; President, Research and Development Institute

***Yachiru Kusajishi** – Soul Reaper female; Lieutenant, Squad Eleven

***Rangiku Matsumoto** – Soul Reaper Female; Lieutenant, Squad Ten

***Kaien** **Shiba** – Soul Reaper male; Lieutenant, Squad Thirteen; Head of the House of Shiba

**Soifon** – Soul Reaper female; Captain, Squad Two; Commander, Stealth Force

**Kaname Tosen** – Soul Reaper male; Captain, Squad Nine

**Shigekuni Yamamoto** – Soul Reaper male; Captain, Squad One; Head Captain, Thirteen Court Guard Squads

**Kenpachi Zaraki** – Soul Reaper male; Captain, Squad Eleven

* * *

**HUECO MUNDO**

**Aaroniero Arruruerie** – Arrancar male (Gillian); Quinto (5th) Espada

**Loly Avirrne** – Arrancar female (Adjuchas); Fracciòn to Rudobon; Security Numeròs

**Luppi Anetor** – Arrancar male (Adjuchas); Octavo (8th) Espada

**Dondochakka Bilstin** – Arrancar male (Adjuchas); Fracciòn to Nelliel Tu Odelschwanck

**Dordonii Alessandro Del Socacchio** – Arrancar male (Vasto Lorde); Segundo (2nd) Espada

**Pesche Gautiche** – Arrancar male (Adjuchas); Fracciòn to Nelliel Tu Odelschwanck

***Nnoitra Jiruga** – Arrancar male (Adjuchas); Cuarto (4th) Espada

***Lilynette Gingerback** – Arrancar female (Partial Vasto Lorde); "Fracciòn" to Starrk

**Szayel Aporro Granz** – Arrancar male (Adjuchas); Fracciòn to Nnoitra Jiruga

**Tia Hallibel** – Arrancar female (Vasto Lorde); Tercera (3rd) Espada, Las Noches

***Nanao Ise** – Soul Reaper female; Specialist Commander, Intelligence Division; Lieutenant, Squad Eight (former)

**Shunsui Kyoraku** – Soul Reaper male; Commander; Captain, Squad Eight (former)

***Yenni Laiggs** – Arrancar female (Adjuchas); Intelligence Division

**Tesla Lindocruz – **Arrancar male (Adjuchas); Fracciòn to Nnoitra Jiruga

**Menoly Mallia** – Arrancar female (Adjuchas); Fracciòn to Rudobon; Security Numeròs

**Wonderweiss Margera** – Arrancar male (Vasto Lorde); Espada-class Arrancar

**Gantenbainne Mosqueda** – Arrancar male (Adjuchas); Sexto (6th) Espada

***Nelliel "Nel" Tu Odelschwanck** – Arrancar female (Aduchas); Primera (1st) Espada

**Yammy Riyalgo – **Arrancar male (Adjuchas); Fracciòn of Coyote Starrk

**Rudobon** – Arrancar male (Adjuchas); Noveno (9th) Espada

**Cirucci Sanderwicci** – Arrancar female (Adjuchas); Sèptima (7th) Espada

**Coyote Starrk** – Arrancar male (Partial Vasto Lorde); Dècimo (10th) Espada

**Jushiro Ukitake** – Soul Reaper male; Commander; Captain, Squad Thirteen (former)

***Retsu Unohana** – Soul Reaper female; High Commander; Captain, Squad Four (former)

* * *

**KARAKURA TOWN**

**Love Aikawa** – Visored male; Captain, Squad Seven (former)

**Orihime Inoue**– Empowered Human female; Friend of Ichigo Kurosaki

**Uryu Ishida** – Quincy male; Friend of Ichigo Kurosaki

***Shinji Hirako** – Visored Male; Captain, Squad Five (former)

**Mashiro Kuna** – Visored Female; Lieutenant, Squad Nine (former)

**Ichigo Kurosaki** – Visored/Human male; Substitute Soul Reaper

**Isshin Kurosaki** – Soul Reaper male; Father of Ichigo Kurosaki; Doctor, Kurosaki clinic; Captain-class officer, Squad unknown (former)

**Kensei Muguruma** – Visored Male; Captain, Squad Nine (former)

**Rojuro "Rose" Otoribashi** – Visored male; Captain, Squad Three (former)

**Yasutora "Chad" Sado** – Empowered Human male; Friend of Ichigo Kurosaki

**Hiyori Sarugaki** – Visored Female; Lieutenant, Squad Twelve (former)

***Yoruichi Shihoin** – Soul Reaper female; Captain, Squad Two (former); Commander, Stealth Force (former)

**Tessai Tsukabishi** – Soul Reaper male; Retail Associate; Urahara Shop; Commander, Kido Corps (former)

**Kisuke Urahara** – Soul Reaper male; Proprietor, Urahara Shop; Captain, Squad Twelve (former); President and Founder, Research and Development Institute (former)

**Hachigen "Hachi" Ushoda** – Visored male; Lieutenant, Kido Corps (former)

**Lisa Yadomaru** – Visored female; Lieutenant, Squad Eight (former)


	18. Chapter 13: In Motion

_**DOWNFALL**_

By

Greg Wong

* * *

**Chapter 13: In Motion**

* * *

Toshiro knocked on the closed door of the hospital room.

"Come in!" he heard a voice from the other side of the door. He entered.

"Good morning, Toshiro," he heard Momo greet. He was about to remind the girl that he was _Captain Hitsugaya_, but he could let it slide. Just this once. At least Momo hadn't called him Lil' Shiro.

"Morning, Momo," he replied. He noticed that the lieutenant was sitting up, with what looked like a small writing desk set up on the bed. He stepped over to Momo.

"You're off today? I notice you're not wearing your haori."

He nodded. "After the battle last night, Head-Captain Yamamoto gave all the people involved in battle a day of leave. The other squads and officers can handle patrols until something else comes up."

He saw Momo's expression darken. "I heard about it. Small fight, but a lot of people hurt... and killed."

"Eighteen dead, and fourteen with injuries so severe they won't be on active duty for several weeks, even with Squad Four tending to them."

Momo shook her head and looked at him with concern. "You're okay, right?"

"I'm fine." After a moment he pulled up a chair and sat down next to the bed. "The Arrancar didn't really put up much of a fight when the reinforcements arrived."

"Oh, thank goodness." Momo ran a hand through her hair, which was hanging loose and looked a bit mussed from the pillow. "I wish I could have helped my captain and the others.

He frowned. "Momo, you were in a coma for over a month. I don't think anyone is going to begrudge you for being stuck in the hospital."

"Well, there you have it," Momo replied with a small smile. "I've been asleep for a month, so I have to catch up. Speaking of which..."

The girl leaned over and took up a stack of papers from the dresser next to the bed and set them down on the desk. Huh. In addition to the newly-added paper, there were also several inkpots and brushes. What was this? He leaned over and glanced at the sheets. Look like equipment manifests.

Wait a second.

"Is your captain making you work?" he said. He heard a tiny bit of a challenge in his voice when he said that. Ugh.

"Oh, no, quite the opposite, really. Captain Aizen told me to get my rest and not worry about the administrative tasks."

He looked at her sidelong. "So you insisted."

Momo gave a sheepish grin. "Normally I obey the captain, but he seems to be very... ragged lately. I can only imagine how hard it is to manage Squad Five all by himself, not to mention the help he lends Squad Thirteen and Squad Eight."

"So you insisted," he repeated

Momo giggled. "Captain Aizen looked a bit taken aback when I started demanding some of the workload. We've never argued about anything, so it's something new."

"That doesn't surprise me," he muttered dryly.

"Which? That we don't argue or that Captain Aizen was surprised by it?"

"Both."

"Ah, I see. One of the few things that troubles, him, I guess, and such a funny matter, too."

He suddenly remembered the conversation he had had with the Squad Five captain, about _Kyoka Suigetsu_.

"Yeah. Funny."

They didn't talk for a few moments. Momo fiddled with the brushes.

"The captain told me that you know about his zanpakuto."

He perked up. "You know about it?"

"He told me about it a week or so after I became his lieutenant. He told me that was free to go to another squad if it made me uncomfortable." Momo looked up at him. "Oh, I don't mean I was worried that it would be used on me, or anything. It's just that Head-Captain Yamamoto would probably hold some suspicion of me since I would be the executive officer in Captain Aizen's squad." The girl looked at him in the eye. "What do you think, Toshiro?"

He thought about that for a second.

Aizen was a very intelligent Soul Reaper and skilled in the four core Soul Reaper disciplines. The older captain might be unreadable at times, and yes, the ability of _Kyoka Suigetsu_ was terrifying when you thought about the implications, yet he had little doubt as to where the Squad Five captain's loyalties lay.

And, well, Momo seemed to think the world of Captain Aizen. Sure, by default Momo thought the best of everyone, but it wasn't as if Momo was stupid or blind.

And yet... he didn't know. Aizen was _capable_ of pulling something like what Unohana had done, especially since Captain Ichimaru, Captain Tosen, Momo, and a bunch of Squad Five would follow him if he gave an order to that effect.

He sighed inwardly. Things had gotten so much more confusing since the day of Rukia Kuchiki's aborted execution.

"I... don't know Captain Aizen well enough to have a definite decision," he answered, remembering a conversation he had had.

Momo looked at him, cocking her head. The lieutenant had to know there was more to his answer than that, but it didn't look like Momo was going to press him for elaboration.

The girl just nodded and picked up one of the brushes on the desk, looked at it for a moment, and then set it back down. "Oh, what am I doing? I shouldn't be working while a... friend is visiting."

He noticed the hesitation. He abruptly remembered the day Momo had woken up from the coma. Quick, subject change.

"I hope you're not working yourself too hard," he said, a little too quickly.

"Oh, don't worry. The captain also dropped by some books," Momo pointed at a stack of at least ten books on the nightstand, "so I have something to do when I'm finished."

He scratched his head. He got never really got into reading for recreation, so the speed at which the lieutenant could... _devour_ books was really something.

"You finished those and still have time to do paperwork?" he asked incredulously.

"Well, I still haven't read two of them, but yes. Hopefully I'm out of here before I get through another dozen."

_Another_ dozen? Okay, he didn't want to know. His hand clenched slightly, and he heard the sound of crinkling paper.

Oh, wait a second. He frowned and looked down at his lap and the paper bag that was sitting on it. Momo must've seen him look down.

"Oh, Toshiro, what's that?"

Er... suddenly he wondered if this was a good idea and all. "It's uh... some food I picked up." Okay, his voice had cracked a bit. Not good. He cleared his throat. "Lieutenant Kotetsu told me except for just regaining your strength you're perfectly healthy, and that you could eat something else besides hospital food, so... yeah."

Momo gave him another soft smile. "Plums?"

"Uh..."

"Since, you know, my zanpakuto is named after plum trees. I _must_ like plums, right?" He watched Momo lean over and open a drawer on the dresser. Inside were some packages. "Izuru and Renji dropped by earlier today and gave me some plum pastries. Rangiku gave me some fresh plums, and I think it was Shuhei who gave me some plum jelly. I was sleeping at the time, so I wasn't sure. It was sweet of them."

Plums. Great. He started crinkling up the paper bag. "You know, I was just joking," he said to the girl. "There are for, er, someone else."

Momo grinned. "Toshiro, what did you bring?"

Eh. What's the worst that could happen? Momo would just toss it in the garbage, or give it to someone else. Then he would remember to bring something plum-related.

He swallowed—why the hell was he so nervous? It was a damned gift—and handed over the bag.

Momo pulled the jar out. "Oh. Candied peaches."

He barely kept from grimacing. "About those. I thought—"

And then he saw Momo twist off the cover and pop one of the fruits into her mouth. Huh?

The girl chewed enthusiastically, grinning. "I guess it's just unfortunate that my sword is name _Tobiume_. I never did care for plums much." The lieutenant picked up another piece and tossed it into her mouth. "Peaches, on the other hand, I love."

He rubbed a hand through his hair. Well, that was... fortunate.

"Seemed only like you and Captain Aizen remembered, on top of that," Momo continued, pointing to a container of what looked like jam on the nightstand. "Thank you, Toshiro. It means a lot."

He nodded. "I can always bring more, you know."

"Only if it's not a problem. I mean—"

"Oh, Captain, there you are!" he heard a familiar voice call from the door. Frowning, he turned to his lieutenant. "And hi, Momo!"

"_Yes_, Rangiku?" he breathed.

"I know it's our day off, but I think we all need you back at the barracks for a second."

"And why would I be needed at the barracks?" he asked patiently.

"Well, uh, you see... your couch caught on fire."

He stared at Rangiku. "Repeat that, please," he requested, dangerously.

The woman shifted nervously. "Um, your couch. In your office. It caught on fire. Well, not really on fire. It was just scorched. A little."

"And how the _hell_ did you manage to do that?" he barked.

He watched his lieutenant flap her hands up in a disarming gesture. "Oh, it wasn't me. For once. I swear. The third seat was doing some paperwork and he took a nap. I guess he knocked the lamp onto it, and, well..."

He cursed under his breath. "Okay, okay. Get back to my office. I'll be along in a minute." He paused. "Oh, and Rangiku?"

"Captain?"

"Give me a list of the five most tedious, annoying tasks you can think off. The third seat is going to go down that list for a _week_."

"Oh, sucks to be him. Uh, see you back at your office, Captain!" With that, Rangiku was gone.

He turned to Momo and shook his head. "Whyme?"

Momo started giggling. It was infectious, so he ended up laughing a bit too, which wasn't something he engaged in often. Worse people to do it with, right?

"I'll... get this straightened out. I'll see if I can see you tomorrow, Momo."

"Well, all right then. Thank you so much for visiting." The girl held up the jar of peaches and shook it. "And for this, too."

"Anytime," he said, rising from his seat.

"And, um..." he heard Momo say

"Hmm?"

"We should talk sometime. And not about the squads or Captain Aizen or books or whatever else."

He arched an eyebrow. "Then what?"

"You and I," he heard Momo say very quietly.

He blinked, taking a breath. "Sure," he said as he turned and started towards the door. "Bye, Momo."

"Bye, 'Shiro."

Humph. Had to remind Momo that if it wasn't "CaptainHitsugaya", it should at least be "Toshiro." But he could let it slide.

Just this once.

* * *

Byakuya heard humming from the kitchen. Hmm. He rolled up the scroll he'd been reading—a brief memo concerning the battle last night—and walked towards the kitchen.

He took a peek inside. He smiled.

"Hisana, our household does have a five-person cooking staff for a reason, you know."

"I'm just preparing something for us, love," his wife answered. "No need to get everyone up just for that."

He stepped into the kitchen and looked over Hisana's shoulder. Ah. Seaweed wrapper, seasoned rice, fresh tuna, and minced wasabi.

"Really," he repeated, "there is no need. I am fine."

Hisana turned and gave him a wry grin. "Byakuya, I can tell when you're lying."

He sighed. Hisana knew his eating habits too well. He had a particular weakness for spicy foods. And while tuna rolls might be a simple dish for someone of a noble house, Hisana made them perfectly. Truth be told, Hisana was a better cook than any of the hired chefs.

His musing was cut short when he saw Hisana's nose twitch. His wife turned to the side and sneezed. He stiffened.

"Should I get your medicine?"

"Byakuya," Hisana sniffed, "it's the pepper. Ever since Rukia evicted her little friends from the property, I haven't had a problem."

"Ah, I see." He rubbed his forehead. "Forgive me. I know you're healthy. But still, it's only been a couple of days since you were discharged, and I'm just a bit... on edge."

"Oh, I understand Byakuya. I just don't want you worrying about me every time something gets into my nose." With another smile Hisana went back to work, humming again. From desperately ill to bustling around the house in a few days. It simply dumbfounded him, sometimes, on how lucky he was.

He moved closer and gently wrapped his arms around his wife.

"Byakuya! I'm trying to prepare some food!"

"Mmm. I can see." He leaned down and gave her a little kiss on her ear.

"I'll not get these done..." Hisana protested half-heartedly.

"Wasn't all that hungry to begin with," he said, lips brushing against Hisana's neck.

His wife rotated in his arms so that they were facing each other. He heard Hisana sigh and place a hand on his chest. "So...?"

He smiled.

* * *

Byakuya felt Hisana snuggle up against him. He wrapped his arms around his wife and rested his chin on the top of her head. Hisana was so soft, warm, feminine.

"And to think," he heard Hisana murmur, "we were worried about losing this because of rabbits."

"At least it was not, say, Captain Komamura's fur. I'd never let you step outside the house if that was the case."

He heard a snort. "Did you just make a joke?"

He chuckled. "I suppose. But don't expect to hear one in public. The appearance of nobility, after all."

He felt Hisana shift so that she faced him. "And I thought you had gotten out of bad habits, Byakuya."

"Without you, I could be much worse," he said nonchalantly. "I can't count how many ways I would have turned out differently were it not for you."

"You give me too much credit, love."

"You don't give yourself enough, sweetheart."

"Hmm."

They just lay in each other's arms for a few moments. The peace was nice. Well, what they had done _before_ had been nicer, but he and Hisana did have limits to their endurance.

He felt Hisana stir. "Oh, that just reminded me."

"What did?"

"Talking about counting. I have to finish balancing the expenses before tomorrow evening, so I can give them to our buyer."

"Hisana, we have people for that, too. _I_ could do that, come to think of it."

"No, no," his wife scolded, tapping a finger on his chest. "You're the head of the household and a Thirteen Court Guard Squad captain. Menial things like that are beneath you."

He looked at Hisana archly. "And I thought my lady wife was doing her best to get me out of bad habits."

"I'll allow you some amount of arrogance if it overlaps with the household books. You _know_ I'm better at it."

True, true. Hisana had an almost phenomenal talent with numbers and logistics, despite not having any formal training.

"And, besides, I am the lady of the house," Hisana continued with a tone of imperiousness. "That falls under my jurisdiction, not yours."

"If you insist," he said humorously. Smoothly, he ran a hand down Hisana's body. He felt his wife shiver a little bit at his touch.

Just then he heard a growling sound. Frowning, he looked down at his stomach. Well, that killed the mood.

"Ah, you lied to me Byakuya Kuchiki," Hisana said to him lightly.

He just grunted in response.

His wife laughed. "Come to the kitchen with me. Hopefully the servants didn't put the food away."

* * *

Yenni kicked Madarame in the balls.

Or tried too. Her feet—and her damned arms—were secured to sekkiseki walls by heavy chains. The bald Soul Reaper just stared at her, grinning.

Grr. She was going to rip his shiny head off and play soccer with it.

She glared at the Soul Reaper and his buddy. Fifth Seat Yumichika Ayesagawa was there, too. It was almost flattering. She had two toughies like these two to watch over here because they were scared that she could escape.

Well, maybe. The locks on these chains were pretty simple, and if she could thread her antennae into them she was pretty sure she could pick it. The lock to the cell door should be a cinch, too. There were a couple of open windows in this tower, outside, with the height dissuading people from escaping that way. Of course, she was a frigging Arrancar, so a seventy-foot drop was peanuts to her.

But, of course, before she could go cordless bungee jumping she had to be alone for a few moments. She flexed against the chains.

"You know, you're starting to piss me off," she heard Madarame growl at her.

"Yeah, well, your head's reflecting the sunlight into my eyes. Get a wig."

She watched Madarame snarl and take a step towards her, but the other Soul Reaper stopped him.

"Let's not do something we'll regret, Ikkaku," Ayesagawa said. "She'll be in trouble soon enough."

She felt cold in the pit of her stomach. She hadn't heard much, but apparently Captain Kreepysutchi wanted a crack at her. She was well-trained enough that she wouldn't give up information under the most usual types of interrogation—or torture—but if Kurotsuchi was as bughouse nuts as she thought he was...

"See what I mean?" she heard the fifth seat say. "She's turning green."

She looked up at Ayesagawa and scowled. "Go suck a Gillian."

She watched the Soul Reaper's eyes narrow. "Say that again."

"Bite me, Feather-Boy. You too, Baldy."

Uh oh. The two Soul Reapers had looked at each other, and then briefly out the cell door. The two of them starting walking towards her. Madarame popped his knuckles loudly.

She spat on the floor at glared at them. "Bring it."

Run/flee/hide.

She swallowed. Okay, if she pretended to go to dreamland after the first dozen or so hits, they'd probably lose interest. Of course, they looked pissed off enough that they'd still knock her ass around.

She really needed to watch her damn mouth.

Then there was a tinkling sound. Eh. The two Soul Reapers looked at each other again and turned back towards the cell door. She saw one of those messenger butterflies land on Madarame's finger. The Third Seat looked at her, then at Ayesagawa.

Then they both unlocked the cell, exited, and closed it behind them. Huh, what.

Oh well, a blessing was a blessing. She starting breathing as quietly as she could, straining to hear any activity outside. Nothing. Okay. Had to do this quickly and quietly.

He hands were shackled behind her so she couldn't reach them with her antennae. Okay, this was gonna hurt.

She tightened up into a ball, as far as he bonds would let her, and started forcing her wrists down, towards her feet.

"Motherfu—" she snarled quietly as her left shoulder, then right, popped out of their sockets. She angled her wrists under her legs, bringing her hands up around to her face before weaving her antennae into the locks. She fiddled for a few seconds, and, with a click, the shackle opened. Phew. Good thing she had kept her mask fragments as inert as possible, otherwise the Soul Reapers would have caught on that the antennae were prehensile and made her job a whole lot tougher.

Speaking of tough...

She positioned her left shoulder against the wall... and slammed into it, hard.

"_Bitch_," she hissed as her arm popped back into its socket. She waited for the pain to lessen, and then used that arm to pop her other back in, too. Double bitch. With her arms free, she was able to lean down and pick the locks on her ankles. Okay, done.

She got to her feet, rolling her shoulders. Gah. Still ached. Okay. She had had worse. Focus.

Zanpakuto? Nah. She didn't know where the Soul Reapers had stashed it, and on top of that she wanted to escape quietly, not take on every Soul Reaper and his grandmother. She'd regenerate her sword in a few days, anyhow.

She crept over to the cell door. Lock, of course, was on the other side. Smart.

Unfortunately, the hinges were on the inside. Hmm. Ah-hah. She placed her foot on the bottom hinge and leaned. There was a sharp snap, and the joint broke off. Thank goodness for Hollow strength. She repeated the same trick on the middle hinge. With the top one she had to hang onto the stones above the door to get the right leverage, but that popped off, too. As the door started to topple over she dropped to the ground and caught it. Grunting, she levered it to the ground, quietly. Okay. She peeked carefully out. No one. Huh. Lax security for a prison. She moved rapidly towards the nearest window.

"Bakudo sixty-one, _Rikujokoro_."

"Nyah!" she wheezed as something slammed into her midsection. Numbness spread from the point of impact to the rest of her body. The hell was this!

"Well, at least now we know that we could have engineered our doors a little better," a voice said from behind her. Wait, what? Behind her, as in from inside the cell. She strained against the spell, and turned her torso so she could see behind.

Her eyes widened.

Captain Sosuke Aizen.

Oh, you had got to be kidding...

The Soul Reaper stepped over—she noticed he had a slight limp—and grabbed onto one of the light slabs that was locking her in place. Aizen started dragging her back to the room.

"How the hell did you do that?" she growled. "Didn't see you, didn't sense your reishi.

"For the latter, it's a good thing sekkiseki has a tendency to absorb stray spiritual energy. As for the first question, I'm sure a spy of your caliber was briefed by Unohana as to what my zanpakuto can do."

She snarled as the captain levered her into a corner at the back of the room. The Soul Reaper looked at her mildly for a few seconds.

And then the kido keeping her in place vanished. She looked up sharply and charged.

"Bakudo one, _Sai_."

She collapsed to the floor. Son of a...

"I could do this all day, you know," the captain said to her. "So, if you wouldn't mind behaving, it would be better for all of us."

The spell disappeared. She sat up, staring.

Pure force wouldn't work. Unbalance him, maybe,

"Hey, how's your lieutenant doing? I heard you stuck her through the chest."

Aizen cocked his head at her. "She's not doing bad. A week or so and she'll be able to go back to limited duty. She's in high spirits."

Hmm. Not the reaction she wanted. "Speaking of high spirits, Lady Unohana and Lords Kyoraku and Ukitake are ecstatic that they don't gotta deal with you anymore."

"I doubt they feel that way. I do have to admit you're _almost_ making me angry. Almost."

Holy crap, would nothing rattle this guy? She sighed and slumped down in her corner.

"Whatever. What do you want?"

"Well, for one I got to observe you breaking out of a highly secure cell. Ingenious use of your mask's antennae, by the way."

She grimaced. Thanks to Captain Sneaky over there, the same trick wasn't going to work twice. Stupid hypnosis.

"And, besides that, I'm here to interrogate you."

She snarled. "Do your worst."

"I was planning on doing my best, actually."

This was bad. Aizen was too smart and calm to fluster, and if the guy was as good with his words during questioning as he was at deflecting her attempts to piss him off, it didn't look good for her. Between the glasses and utterly neutral expression, she had no idea what the guy was thinking.

"You want answers? Get your resident mad doctor in here. He'll get more out of me than you could."

Aizen just shook his head. "I don't think so. Well. I take that back. He _would_ get more out of you."

She swallowed. One session with a scientific psychopath, here she came.

"He could, for example, discover that you're secretly controlling Unohana. And that I'm using my hypnosis to control everyone else. Or that you have a pet dog. Or that you have an obsession for Lieutenant Abarai. Or that you lust after a man named Sydney."

She stared. "Huh?"

Aizen smiled thinly. "Exactly. Torture is, for the most part, counterproductive. Oh, for amateurs it could work. For someone as skilled as you—and don't deny that you're a well trained espionage agent; I read up on you—you should be able to resist giving away useful information. Eventually, though, your mind is going to be so overloaded from the pain that you'll start blurt anything that you think we _want_ to hear. You don't know anyone named Sydney? With enough torment you'll insist that you do. You might even start to believe it."

She sighed. She was so screwed.

* * *

Yoruichi heard knocking on her door.

"Go away," she groaned.

_Knock knock_.

Damn it all. She was going to strangle whoever it was. She slumped out of bed, stumped over to the door, and flung it open. Kisuke Urahara almost punched her in the face.

"Ah, morning, Yoruichi," her friend said, hand raised to knock.

"Lemme sleep," she grumped.

"You _do_ know it's past eleven, right?" the blond Soul Reaper said to her with a shrug.

Ugh. Eleven? Why did time seem to move so fast on these days? She rubbed her eyes to get the grit out of them.

Kisuke held out a cup of something steaming. She grabbed it and tossed it back. Ack. Almost-scalding tea. But it was warm, and sweet, and that started to kick the cobwebs out of her brain.

"We have to start getting messages to Shinji and his people," she heard Kisuke mention. "Especially in light of what happened here and in the Soul Society two nights ago."

She grimaced. Orihime kidnapped and a lot of Soul Reapers dead. Unohana was finally making her move.

"I'll get dressed," she said, turning back to her room.

"Sounds like a plan. Love the pajamas, by the way."

She was naked. She looked over her shoulder at the other Soul Reaper and cocked an eyebrow. "It's not as if you haven't seen this before. Or gotten up close and personal with it."

Kisuke shrugged extravagantly, grinning crookedly. "Wellll, it never gets old. What can I say?"

"How about 'Yes ma'am, I'll run along now, ma'am?' "

"Oh please," Kisuke sniffed. "This is my shop that you're 'renting' a room in. I am the ma'am around here, not you."

"Yes ma'am," she replied with a snort. She opened one of her drawers and started tossing out clothing. "Now, really, Kisuke, I should get dressed. And close the door. Imagine if your redheaded little helper saw me."

She saw her friend purse his lips. "Oh, that would be bad, and a violation of at least two human laws. See you in a bit."

The door slid shut. Yawning, she looked down at her bed. What to wear, what to wear. She was in a gigai at the moment, so she wasn't planning on flash-stepping to the warehouse Shinji and the Visoreds had co-opted for their use.

So, she had to blend in. Hmm. The black jeans could work. Beige blouse, too. Hat? Nah. A tie for her hair would do. And shoes. Hmm. Humans made so many kinds of shoes. It was ridiculous.

She looked out the window. Sunny. Something light and cool. Ah. The purple flip-flops would work.

She gathered up her selections and carefully placed the other clothing where she had gotten them from. So damned meticulous. Her cat form's OCD was rubbing off on her.

She showered and dressed, toweling off her hair as she went to the kitchen. Tessai gave her a friendly wave and slid over a plate with a sandwich on it. She looked at the filling, then at Tessai, cocking an eyebrow.

"You like tuna, right?"

She looked at Tessai sidelong.

"Meow?"

She burst out laughing. "I swear, sooner or later I'll strangle both of you."

"I guess there would be worse ways to go. The boss wouldn't mind, I don't think."

She rolled her eyes and laughed before stepping out into Karakura Town, munching on her sandwich.

She swung by the area where Orihime, Chad, Uryu, and Rukia had been attacked. The human police still had the area cordoned off while investigators and engineers tried their best to come up with an explanation. Good luck with that. Their explanations couldn't explain giant footprints, craters, and scorch marks from energy beams.

The kidnapping had happened so fast that even she couldn't get there in time. From the attack to the closing of the Garganta little more than six minutes had passed. She'd gotten there in six and a half.

Dammit. Yeah, she wasn't a member of the Thirteen Court Guard Squads anymore, but it was still a responsibility to defend the humans and her fellow Soul Reapers. Exile didn't change that duty.

She suddenly didn't feel all that hungry anymore. She looked down at the last few bites of her tuna sandwich, scowled, and tossed it into a trash bin.

The whole thing had been perfectly timed, too. At the moment of the Arrancar attack on Karakura Town, Rukia had sent a distress call to the Seireitei. Unfortunately, at that moment the Espada had struck, and Rukia's alarm had been buried under all the others. Kisuke had sent an anonymous message the following evening, advising the Soul Society as the status of Rukia, Ichigo, and the others. The Kuchikis had probably only found out this morning.

Thankfully, none of them had suffered lasting injuries, though Ichigo was pretty banged up after going toe-to-toe with one of the Espada, probably a low-numbered one. Kisuke was using all his contacts in the Soul Society to get information, but they were still in the dark concerning the full extent of the Espada's abilities and ranking. She would've liked to get a piece of the Hollows that had helped kidnap Orihime, as it would have been the best way to get a feel for the power of their opponents. But she'd been too late for that, dammit.

In the information war the Soul Society had started off badly, and the forces in Karakura Town were little better. Unohana, Kyoraku, and Ukitake were senior captains with extensive knowledge of the Soul Society, while Ise was extraordinarily intelligent, from what she had read of the former lieutenant's personal file. Thus, Hueco Mundo knew virtually everything worth knowing. Worse, the grapevine said that an unknown number of Arrancar scouts and infiltrators were moving inside the Soul Society, even in the low-digit Rukon areas.

And the Soul Society had zip. True, Mayuri Kurotsuchi was brilliant and could piece information together from analyses of bodies and reishi residue, and her old pal Soifon was perfectly competent at ferreting out information where it could be had. Said information was getting taken apart by Captain Aizen and Captain Hitsugaya, who, while short of Kurotsuchi's raw brainpower, were still extremely intelligent and could draw up conclusions that didn't seem intuitive at first.

If she was still around, she'd be more aggressive in indentifying the Hollow infiltrators. She would eliminate most of them, but leave one or two still kicking, under covert observation, so that her own agents could feed false information to them. She'd also request more funding be poured into Garganta research so that she could have Stealth Force teams sent into Hueco Mundo for retaliatory strikes. Combined with careful application of reconnaissance elements, the Thirteen Court Guard Squads should be able to...

She groaned and rubbed her forehead. What the hell was she brainstorming? She wasn't part of the Seireitei anymore. She should be worrying about how to defend the town and help Ichigo and his friends, not about how to aid that intolerant, fanatical Yamamoto. She sighed. You could take the Yoruichi out of the Squad, but you couldn't take the Squad out of the Yoruichi.

Oh well. She still needed to keep her mind sharp.

She entered the district where Shinji was headquartered. Hmm. The addresses on the warehouses were getting closer to the one she wanted.

She walked a bit further. One more warehouse down. She looked over... and it felt like her gaze slide off the building between the previous warehouse and the next. It was as if she was simply failing to notice the building in the middle. That was one of the defenses Hachigen Ushoda, the Visored's kido specialist, had erected around the place.

She frowned and looked up at the sky. Sun was almost dead center in the sky. Noon. Noon meant lunchtime. Hmm. Sushi sounded pretty good. Maybe after that she could get back to her place and wash the sweat of her gigai before doing... whatever. Karakura had a decent nightlife, if you knew where to go. There was this one bar—

She blinked. _Damn_ it. She growled, lowered her head, and stalked towards the building. The second layer of kido lay had almost gotten her good. Luckily, the field that psychically influenced people to think of more important things to do had slipped a bit on her. Thank goodness for her Stealth Force training in resisting mind-manipulating kido.

Still, she was going to get Tessai into a headlock until the mustachioed Soul Reaper conjured up a ward or charm or _something_ that didn't make coming to this place a hassle.

Oh well. She made it to the front door—without further incident, yay—and knocked on the door.

* * *

Nelliel knocked, waited a few moments, and then entered the room. The room—more of a large suite—was stocked well, though the color and themes of the furniture was a little more utilitarian than a human would be used to.

Orihime Inoue, sitting on the bed, looked up at her slowly. The human's eyes were puffy and red.

Inoue had been crying. A sign of weakness.

Devour/kill/destroy.

No. Not weakness. Just a realistic reaction of a poor girl who had been violently abducted.

She walked towards Inoue, slowly, so the human would know she wasn't there to hurt her. She held up the tray with food and fresh clothes she had been carrying and gently placed it on the table in the middle of the room. She took three steps backwards.

"We have no intention of hurting you, Inoue," she said, gently as she could. Goodness knew the girl was in enough emotional turmoil as it was.

Inoue just turned to look her in her eyes, pleading. "Please. Let me go."

She shook her head firmly. "I can't."

Inoue's eyes slowly closed as she bowed her head. "It's because of Ichigo, isn't it?"

She was loathe to share any information with a human, especially one who was their captive and their bait, yet... "Yes, it is."

The girl's face lifted, and for a brief moment she saw a... fierceness, there. She tensed. She had seen the wound on Nnoitra's face. Whatever power the human had used, it had sliced through the Cuarto Espada's Hierro as if it hadn't even been there. Nnoitra's Hierro was a noticeably tougher than hers, and if it could slash Nnoitra's cheek, it could go through her skull.

But the moment passed, and sorrow again clouded the girl's features. "I... please, don't hurt him. If there's anything I can do to... to help you, I'll do so. Just leave him alone."

She couldn't make any promises to the girl. If Ichigo became a threat to all that Lady Unohana was working to accomplish, she would destroy the human boy without a second thought.

Should would rather not, all things considered. She bore no personal malice towards Kurosaki, and, despite what she was, she detested fighting with every fiber of her being. It was just her unfortunate curse that she was _good_ at it.

Ugh. Thinking about it wouldn't change anything. "There is food for you, and a change of clothes." Inoue's clothes had gotten roughed up during the capture. "I will be back in two hours to check on you."

She started towards the door.

"Why do you do it?" she heard the human ask quietly.

She froze. She turned to the girl, cocking her head in question.

"I saw when you... when you and your people captured me. You didn't have that... _look_ on your face when you fight. I see it on a lot of people." The girl looked down at the floor. "Ichigo's sometimes like that, too."

She studied the girl. Even frightened, disoriented, and tired, Inoue was perceptive. Either that or she wore her emotions on her sleeve for anyone to see. Perhaps a mix of both?

"I didn't see it on your face when you... when you hurt Ichigo. You looked like you didn't want to fight him."

_Very _perceptive.

"I don't relish the prospect of fighting, but I don't deny its necessity, either," she explained to the human. "I did not take pleasure in causing you or the Kurosaki boy any pain. I hate fighting, yet it is my duty to Lady Unohana."

Inoue gazed at her with genuine sympathy on the girl's face. "Then I'm sorry that you're forced to do something you hate."

She didn't reply for a few moments. She cleared her throat. "I'll talk to Lady Unohana. If I can subdue the Substitute Soul Reaper without harming him, I'll gladly do so."

The girl looked up at her with gratitude muted by the events of the past days. "Thank you, er..."

"My name is Nelliel."

The human nodded. "Thank you, Nelliel."

She grunted in response. "I'll be back in two hours. Eat, and get out of those clothes. There is a shower in your bathroom."

And without further words she left Inoue's suite.

* * *

"Nice outfit," Shinji said. "You'd make a good human civilian.

Shihoin just snorted, looking around the warehouse that he and his people called home. "Love what you've done with the place."

"Fixer-upper," he retorted. He pulled his hands out of his pockets and stalked closer to his fellow ex-captain. "So, what brings you here? It isn't fun to go through Hachi's wards, so I'm assuming you're not going to, I don't know, invite us all to lunch."

The woman smirked. "I'm broke, anyway." He watched Shihoin sit down on one of the numerous tables they had scattered around the warehouse floor. The woman looked tense. "But I'm sure you have an idea as to why I'm here."

He bared his teeth. "Oh, I'm pretty sure." He turned to look over his shoulder. "Guys, come 'ere."

Out of the shadows of the dimly lit warehouse came the other Visoreds, all of them in their spirit forms. He waited for the seven others to come closer to him and the former Squad Two captain.

"So, how you been?" he heard Hiyori ask. He almost sighed. You'd think that, even though Hiyori hadn't been a lieutenant for damn near a century, that the blonde midget would at least _pretend_ to show some respect. Okay, granted, Mashiro routinely drove Kensei up the wall, and Lisa was... well, Lisa. The only former lieutenant who still acted like one—more or less—was Hachi. Small favors. Yay.

"Good, sort of," he heard Shihoin answer. "I set up shop in Kisuke's place. Also managed to avoid the label of "moocher" by actually making myself useful. Hence why I'm here."

He narrowed his eyes. "The kidnapping of Orihime. We know about that."

"I know you do. You know about the simultaneous attack on the Soul Society?"

Wait, what? He stared into the other captain's eyes. "Run that by me, again."

The woman nodded. "At about the time Orihime and her friends were attacked, an Arrancar strike force hit the outermost Rukon areas."

He heard his comrades draw in a sharp breath. Huh. He probably had done the same. "Are you sure?"

Shihoin nodded. "Yeah. Kisuke still maintains some contacts in Soul Society, and he thinks the information is solid. The damage was relatively minor since the strike force was small, so we don't officially know their objective."

Officially. "But unofficially, I'm thinking it has to do with the girl's kidnapping. Barring Unohana going utterly wacky and sending out soldiers just for giggles, it's the only explanation that makes sense."

"Yeah," he heard Shihoin agree. "It's what we think, too. That being said we're not sure _why_ the Arrancar came to Karakura to kidnap Inoue, and not do something a little more... mischievous."

True. There were a dozen and one things that the Arrancar could have easily done instead of the relatively harmless abduction of Orihime. The only real accomplishment from that little encounter two days ago was to make the Karakura people more wary. Well, that and throw Ichigo off his game a little.

Wait a second.

"I don't believe it," he muttered. "Unohana's afraid of that punk."

He felt everyone's eyes on him. He shrugged.

"That's the only thing I can think of. She wants to disorient Ichigo, distract him."

Shihoin looked at him intently. "Ichigo's that powerful?"

He arched an eyebrow at the woman. "You're asking me? You're the woman who got him to achieve bankai in three days."

The ex-captain snorted. "That was Kisuke's device, not mine. And, at the end of the day, Ichigo is more like you than he is like me. You're the better judge."

A Visored. "In that case...yes."

Shihoin's eyebrows perked up. "You think he's a major threat against Unohana?"

"Eh... yes and no. Yeah, the kid's got buckets and buckets of raw spiritual power—significantly _more_ than the average captain-class Soul Reaper—but his real issue is that he's got no control over it. Reishi is useless unless you can do something with it."

"Ooh, displaying that inner nerd you've got locked up inside, huh," he heard Hiyori comment dryly.

He glanced over his shoulder. "Yeah, whatever." He turned back to Shihoin. "But my point stands. Ichigo's power fluctuates all over the place, _plus_ I don't think he's fully aware of what his Hollow powers are capable of."

"Then we'd better find him before the punk loses control of it," he heard Kensei suggest.

He rubbed his forehead. That Substitute Soul Reaper was a load of trouble, wasn't he?

"Yeah, I know. I'd better find the kid before he does something stupid, like charging into Huceo Mundo." He turned to the other Visoreds. "Get our training ground prepped for Hollow subjugation. The sooner Ichigo gets his hidden psychopath under control the better it'll be for all of us. Let's go, Hiyori."

"Wait, what?"

"Let's _go_," he repeated. "We're going to steal Kurosaki for a sec."

"What makes you think I want to go traipsing around town with your dumb ass to bring back a human who's probably as lame as you are!"

He took a deep breath, counted to ten, and released it. "You're coming unless you want to be stuck down there raking the sand flat."

He saw Hiyori scowl. "I really, really hate you."

He smirked, turning back to Shihoin. "Anything else we should know about?"

The woman shook her head, hopping off the table. "Nothing new, anyway. I'll keep you guys posted on anything we learn. Just be careful."

He thought about the training ground and what they would have to do to Ichigo in the next few days—assuming of course, they didn't have to drag the kid kicking and screaming into their little play area.

"Yeah, we'll do that."

* * *

"She's tough, I'll give her that," Sosuke said to Captain Hitsugaya.

"Too tough?" the younger captain asked, shuffling some papers around.

"I doubt it," he replied, setting down the report he had just finished examining. Soifon had tightened her intelligence network. Three more infiltrator Arrancar had been discovered and tracked by the Stealh Force. Unfortunately, all the spies had fought to the death, which left them with only one captive. Aforementioned Hollow was a bit... difficult. "However, I will admit that it does get frustrating at times."

Hitsugaya chuckled. "Resistant to questioning?"

He shook his head. "And then some. Oh, I know I'll be able to crack her, soon enough. It's just that while she continues to be exceedingly difficult, more and more of our people are getting injured and killed."

The Squad Ten captain sobered. "I know. I would suggest that you let Captain Kurotsuchi have a go at the Hollow, but I think that's exactly what the Arrancar wants you to do."

He nodded. Perceptive. "Indeed. She knows I'll be able to get _useful_ information out of her, given time. If our resident doctor was allowed to have an interrogation session, the only thing we'd end up getting would be Sydney's home address."

Hitsugaya looked up at him quizzically. "Sydney?"

He quirked a grin. "It's... an inside joke."

"And inside joke. With a Hollow."

"Yes, believe it or not," he said, leaning back in his chair.

It was very surprising, actually. Most Hollows were little more than mindless beasts, and the more intelligent ones could barely understand basic speech, let alone speak themselves. There were the occasional Hollows—the one that had slain Lieutenant Shiba's wife came to mind—that were intelligent and could communicate intelligibly, but, even then, they were motivated by their hunger and nothing else.

During the attack, he had seen the Espada. While their coordination was rough and their tactics basic, it was a shocking contradiction to what he knew about Hollows. Hollows weren't supposed to work together, and, if they devised some kind of plan, it was a very basic one that as born from bestial necessity rather than true forethought.

And then there was the matter of the infiltrator. The Arrancar was well-trained enough that it was slow going obtaining information through questioning and coercion methods like sleep-deprivation. He could have written the resistance to the latter as some element of Hollow biology, but it did _not_ explain the former. The infiltrator had stopped trying to ruffle him—thankfully—but any deeper questioning was always met with silence or cryptic tidbits. The portions that he managed to coerce out of the Arrancar were usually things they already knew, but spun in a way that he had to crosscheck the information to confirm it. And, during that time the Hollow had a reprieve from his relentless interrogation.

And then you added things, like a recurring joke. All things considered, the Hollow was amiable enough, in a rough fashion, though the two of them didn't forget that they were enemies.

Heh. He had to wonder, sometimes, about Unohana's supposed plans. What if there _could_ be a peace, or at least a cease-fire, with Hueco Mundo? He had no particular love for Hollows, but if a peace meant less Soul Reapers getting killed, then wasn't it his duty to—

He let out a breath and sat straight in his chair. It was _that_ kind of thinking—doubts and second thoughts—that got people killed. If there could be treaty with Hueco Mundo, so be it. If it came, it came. He wasn't going to wait—or expect—for it to come.

Also, he did remember what he'd said to Captain Hitsugaya. He didn't doubt that the younger captain would do exactly what Yamamato intended Hitsugaya to do if the situation called for it.

In any case...

"Eh, that can be for later," he said to the Squad Ten captain. "The more important thing is a pattern I'm starting to see in where the Arrancar are being discovered."

"Most of the infiltrators in the high- and middle-digit districts?"

"Exactly."

He saw Hitsugaya look down thoughtfully at the reports. "And we have to take into account the fact that small raiding groups—only minor Arrancar and not Espada-level ones—are hitting the same areas. And the Squads are reacting by tightening defenses in those areas." The younger captain looked thoughtful for a moment. "Which means the Seireitei and the areas closest to it are lightly defended."

"Which doesn't make much sense, tactically or strategically. While her target is supposed to be the Seireitei, we have dedicated forces patrolling those areas now. She'll stretch our patrols and the Stealth Force thin, but the Seireitei isn't much less defended that before the attacks started. Plus, the Head-Captain and the bulk of the Kido Corp are there to resist any kind of assault on the Seireitei walls."

"Which would mean drawing our faces out is a waste of time, since, ultimately, we are just as well defended as before."

"Precisely."

He saw Hitsugaya shake his head. "Yet we know Unohana isn't stupid. There has to be some strategy for having our forces moving around the Rukongai. Maybe her target isn't the Seireitei, or, at least, not the sole target?"

He removed his glasses and massaged his eyes. His head hurt just a bit. "But who would be the target? We know the Thirteen Court Squads are objectives, but if she wants to draw out a Squad to eliminate it in detail those raiding forces are nowhere near strong enough to even seriously harm them."

"But with that said, we have no choice _but_ to continue this course of action. If her plan is to make us second-guess ourselves, the moment we decrease the outer patrols we give her the opportunity to act."

He mulled that over, exhaling slowly. He looked up at the clock. Heh. He and the Squad Ten captain had been here for nearly four hours straight, and it was nearly eleven. The data compiled by Squad Ten and Five analysis teams was taking some of the load off of Captain Hitsugaya and himself, but it was still grueling. And, on top of that, he had to deal with the captive Arrancar.

His exhaustion was dangerous. He continued trying to think in this state, he was going to overlook something. Missing a detail, failing to make a connection between two pieces of data, anything, could get more people killed.

"I think we're done for today, Captain," he said to Hitsugaya.

"My brain's also refusing to function, so yeah," the younger captain agreed.

He nodded, and started gathering the hard copies and arranging them back into their proper order. "How is my lieutenant doing, by the way?" he asked offhandedly.

"Good, good," he heard the younger captain reply. "She can't wait to go back to limited duty."

He chuckled. "Oh, I know. She's counting down the days, so I hear."

"If anything—"

Captain Hitsugaya was cut off when there was a banging on the door. Hmm?

"Enter!" he called, frowning. The door slid open, revealing a Stealth Force member with the uniform of the Reversal Counter Force.

"Captain Aizen! Captain Hitsugaya! Urgent dispatch from Head-Captain Yamamoto." He nodded at the messenger to continue. When something was sent via a Reversal Counter Force courier, as opposed to another Soul Reaper or a hell butterfly, it was of incredible importance. "An undisclosed force in the World of the Living reports that several Espada-level Arrancar assaulted the town, with the apparent goal of kidnapping the human Orihime Inoue.

"Stealth Force scouts reconnoitered the area and have confirmed that the human Orihime Inoue had been abducted and that several of the spiritually-aware citizens had been injured in the attack."

The sleepiness abruptly vanished. "Very well. Inform the Head-Captain of our receipt of this message. Dismissed."

The courier nodded and vanished in the blur of a flash-step. He turned to Hitsugaya.

"Well, this is new," he muttered. "What is Unohana trying to do?"

"That's up to us to find out," he heard Hitsugaya sigh. "We'd better get our analysis teams up. And my third seat requisitioning something to get them all wide awake. He still owes me for the couch."

He gave the younger captain a questioning look. Hitsugaya just waved it off.

"Of course," he said pensively. "Tea would probably be ideal. Always seems to help me out, in any case."

"I'll get my man on it. Sugar?"

"Lots."

* * *

_Author's Note: Dramatis Personae/Author's Note section section has been updated._


	19. Chapter 14: Subjugation

**_DOWNFALL_**

By

Greg Wong

* * *

**Chapter 14: Subjugation**

**

* * *

**

Ouch.

Shinji shook his hand gingerly. Damn kid had rock for a face.

Ichigo Kurosaki looked up from the floor after he'd socked the human in the jaw.

"I don't got time for this," Kurosaki growled. "I have to get to Hueco Mundo _now_!"

"Like hell you do," he sneered. "You walk into Las Noches like you are now, the only problem you'll cause Unohana and her pet Hollows is the mess you'll make on their floor."

He was lucky he'd gotten a heads-up from Shihoin and Urahara. The human had exited his body, stowed it at the shop, and was running around without a clue as to how to actually get to Hueco Mundo. He and Hiyori had managed to subdue the kid and drag his scowling ass back to the warehouse.

Kurosaki didn't seem to like it much.

The human scrambled up from the floor, hand on the hilt of his oversized zanpakuto. "So help me, if she's been hurt while you've been screwing around with me, I'm going to wipe your face across this _floor_."

He stepped forward, hands in his pockets. "Go ahead. Give it a shot."

The human roared and charged, fist cocked back. He flash-stepped to the side and sent another blow into Kurosaki's jaw. The human tumbled back.

"I'm not even trying and I'm making you look like an idiot. What chance do you have against Unohana and her people? Huh?"

"Last chance," the human snarled. "Let me go to Orihime. You have no idea what I can do." With that the human let loose a surge of spiritual pressure

He narrowed his eyes at Kurosaki. "Oh, I know _exactly_ what you're capable of. More than _you_ do." He released his own spiritual pressure to batter against Kurosaki's.

Kurosaki's eyes burned with anger and... something else. "Bankai! _Tensa Zangetsu_!"

The human blurred forward, fast, and threw another strike. The kid's energy was, to be honest, almost intimidating in how vast it was. Eh, almost.

Kurosaki flashed forward, fist cocked back for another blow. Fast, had to give the kid credit.

Fast enough? Nah.

_Come on out_.

He caught the blow a few centimeters from his face. Kurosaki looked at his face, and the human's eyes widened. "You... you've got—"

"A Hollow mask," he supplied. He reached out with his free hand and gripped the front of Kurosaki's robe, levering the boy up before slamming the human into the concrete of the warehouse's floor. "But so do you, don't you?"

He heard the weird modulation in his voice that appeared whenever he called upon his Hollow powers. He'd gotten used to it, but it still creeped him out.

Kurosaki replied with a growl.

"Tell you what," he said reasonably. "Get past me and you can save your lady friend to your heart's content."

He felt the kid's spiritual pressure peak again to its ridiculous levels. He tapped his foot impatiently. Come on, already.

His eyes widened as something appeared in front of him. Kurosaki, zanpakuto swinging at his neck. Holy crap, that had been fast.

He started to draw _Sakanade_ when there was another blur.

Hiyori had flash-stepped between himself and Kurosaki, Hollow mask on. The little Visored had stopped the blow with the back of her hand. He frowned when he saw a trickle of blood flow from Hiyori's hand.

With an ululating growl the former lieutenant forced the blade—and Kurosaki—away. Hiyori turned back to look at him.

"You're welcome."

He looked pointedly at the woman's injured hand. "I don't need your help."

"Oh, shut up, dumbass," Hiyori snapped at him before drawing her own zanpakuto and charging after Kurosaki. He sighed, waving his hand to dispel his mask.

Hiyori was really going to work on the human, pummeling Kurosaki right and left despite the kid's bankai. Thankfully, the woman hasn't started using _Kubikiri Orochi_ to actually hurt Kurosaki. Just to parry _Tensa Zangetsu_ out of the way so the former lieutenant could give Kurosaki a good view of her fist.

Had to hand it to Kurosaki, though. The kid was tough. Never mind the woman's... caustic personality, Hiyori hadn't been a slouch as a lieutenant a century ago, and the little pipsqueak hadn't lost her edge even after a hundred years. And then you added the inner Hollow...

Heh. Some days he almost didn't hate Unohana's guts for what happened to him and his people. Sometime he almost liked having the tremendous power of his inner Hollow. Sometimes he almost forgot he had a psychopath locked up in his head, ready to do unspeakable things if he lost his grip even for a second.

Almost, almost, almost.

No point crying over spilled milk. What was done was done. According to Urahara, there was no cure, so to speak. His inner Hollow would always be around. The only treatment, such as it was, was to bury his inner Hollow in the deepest part of his mind that he could lock it and only call upon it when he was sure he needed it.

And when he was sure he could command it.

"_Gack_!"

He started, jarred from his thoughts. Huh?

His eyes narrowed. Kurosaki had somehow pinned Hiyori to the wall, hand to the other Visored's throat.

Hiyori's choking turned to soundless gasps as Kurosaki's grip tightened. He could almost hear the kid's tendons creaking as Hiyori struggled—and failed—to dislodge that hand. The former lieutenant's mask started to fray and flake along its edges.

Hiyori wasn't a pushover by any stretch of the imagination, so how in hell had Kurosaki managed to do that? Ugh.

He summoned his mask and flash-stepped in, drawing his zanpakuto. The human must have been preoccupied with strangling Hiyori since Kurosaki only noticed his presence after he had opened up a shallow wound on the kid's thigh.

Kurosaki gave an angry snarl.

A snarl that echoed. Crap.

Blindingly fast, _Tensa Zangetsu_ flew towards his throat, with him barely managing to batter it away.

Laughing manically, Kurosaki recovered and dashed forward stabbing his blade forward. With a grunt, he slammed _Sakanade_ against the kid's blade, again barely parrying the attack. Kurosaki rolled past, stopping a few meters away. He got a good look at the human's face.

Kurosaki's sclera had gone pitch black, and a third of the kid's face was covered by a bone-white mask. Particles of the same material were forming out of thin air and flowing into the mask, increasing its size.

Not good.

"Oh, don't look so worried!" Hollow-Kurosaki said to him in an eerily reverberating, higher-pitched voice. "It's been such a long time since I've gotten time to play. I just want to thank you!"

Even before Kurosaki had finished speaking the human had already started forward, sword raised. Idiot. He was expecting that.

He sidestepped the downward chop and concentrated his reishi. He jabbed a hand into Kurosaki's abdomen and called up some of his spiritual energy

"Bakudo nine, _Geki_!" he spat, releasing the spell. A red haze seemed to engulf Kurosaki as the restraining kido froze up the Hollow-possessed boy. Kurosaki snarled in outrage, straining... and then _breaking_ past the kido.

The human was blindsided as Hiyori—without her mask—rammed a shoulder into the rampaging Kurosaki. The two exchanged blows until the kid grunted, grabbed Hiyori by her hair, and lifted her head back. Kurosaki began drawing _Tensa Zangetsu _close to the small woman's throat.

He flash-stepped close, jabbing a finger into Kurosaki's temple.

"Hado one, _Sho_!"

The human's head snapped to the side as the telekinetic kido blasted Kurosaki into the floor. Immediately, Love, Rose, Lisa, Kensei, Mashiro, and Hachi all piled on and restrained the kid. Kensei drove down _Tachikaze_ and shattered a portion of Kurosaki's mask. The kid looked confused for a few moments before falling unconscious.

He nodded to Kensei. The large Visored nodded, hefted Kurosaki over a shoulder, and headed off to the underground training area, followed by the rest of the team.

Man. Whatever was up with that kid, it was a big deal. None of the other inner-Hollows had been that powerful, or had taken control that completely. This whole mess had trouble written all over it.

"Bastard cracked my mask off..." he heard Hiyori mutter from where the smaller Visored was sitting on the floor. "That hasn't happened in a while."

He stepped over, looking down at Hiyori as he dispelled his mask. Looked... distressed, almost. It wasn't everyday where someone could manhandle the woman.

"Well, hey," he said, showing his teeth. "You were careless. Serves you right."

Immediately Hiyori wheeled on him. "The _hell_ was that, dumbass! You would've been a head shorter if I hadn't stopped him!"

He cocked an eyebrow. "I doubt he was going to go through with killing me, and even if he _had_ I could've taken him." He smirked. "And look at what it got you: bruises, a bloody hand, and a broken mask. Hooray for Hiyori."

Hiyori glared at him. "Fine, you jerk. Your neck can enjoy a nice breeze next time something like this goes down."

He gave an exaggerated sigh. "Yeah, whatever, Hiyori. You good?"

"What do you think, dumbass?" Hiyori shot back, but with less heat that a few seconds ago. "What? You going to pretend you're concerned?"

This was kind of fun. He shrugged. "Maybe halfway."

"Fine, be like that." Hiyori cocked her head at him. "How about you?"

"I wouldn't want to play zanpakuto tag with Kurosaki until he's got his Hollow under control, but yeah. In one piece, complete with head."

He saw Hiyori roll her eyes at that. "You're such an idiot sometimes, Shinji," he heard the woman say wistfully.

He grinned and thrust his hands into his pants pockets. Kurosaki needed to be smacked around a little bit more, down below. He headed towards the training room.

"Oh, one more thing," he heard Hiyori call out to him.

He turned and—

Ow.

He looked down at the slipper that had come sailing over to smack him in the face. The little idiot just grinned.

It was rapidly turning into one of those days again.

* * *

Yup, one of those days again. Yenni looked down at her food.

Aizen had stopped by again to interrogate her, as usual. The Soul Reaper had brought food, too, which was kind of nice. She had the metabolism of a hyperactive gerbil, so unless she wanted to shrivel up into a hunger-wracked ball she needed something in her stomach. Well, okay, exaggeration. She was a Hollow. Hunger wouldn't kill her, but it would make her life suck hard. There was one time they had been four hours late with breakfast and she had been contemplating how her mattress would taste.

Huh. Wondered how much it cost to feed her.

She stole a glance at Aizen. The captain had taken a seat opposite the room from where she sat on her bed. A tray of various food dishes was on the table next to the Soul Reaper. She was on her bed and currently working on a plate of sushi. Bland stuff, but that was prison food, she guessed. She picked up a piece and popped it into her mouth.

She saw Aizen shift a bit in the chair. "So, will Las Noches—"

"Soy sauce," she cut in, holding up her hand.

Aizen cocked an eyebrow, snorted, and tossed over a bottle of the stuff. She twisted off the cap and poured it over the food. There. Now it should have some taste.

Aizen waited for her to finish.

"Now, Laiggs, the Las Noches operational timetable."

She grimaced. They'd finally found out her name after she'd blurted it out when she'd been loopy from sleep deprivation. She'd been extra, _extra_ careful to watch her words from then on.

"Too soon for you guys," she replied flippantly.

Aizen just gazed at her tolerantly. Just like her, the captain was used to this old song and dance.

"You keep on saying that. What makes you think the Thirteen Court Guard Squads can't take on you Arrancar. If you were so sure of your superiority something would have happened already."

Ugh. Trying to wheedle out more information. Hmm. Maybe toss Aizen a bone and have him chase it around.

"You know who the boss of Hueco Mundo was before Lady Unohana rolled around?"

"I do not."

"Guy named Baraggan Luisenbarn. Nasty piece of work. Vasto Lorde, could turn things into dust just by looking at them funny."

"Disintegration?"

"Aging. Or some other mystical sounding bullcrap. End result, whatever it was, you ended up in a pile on the floor and very thoroughly dead."

She watched the captain lean back thoughtfully. "I'm assuming this Luisenbarn was not too receptive to Unohana's offer."

"Not a bit. He was pretty much the king of Hueco Mundo before she showed up."

"So...?"

"He tried to kill her."

"And...?"

"She wasted him."

Aizen stared at her for a few moments.

Long moments. That Soul Reaper had a stare that could make her feel all squirmy after a minute or so. Part of it was because she still couldn't figure out what made the man tick or how the gears in his head spun. Aizen could be thinking how to respond. Or what methods to use to wear her down. Or how to torture her. Or that it would be best to be given to Kurotsuchi and be introduced to Sydney.

Or the man could be thinking the gig was up and it would be best just to knock her head off with his zanpakuto.

Freaky.

"I see," Aizen said to her after those excruciating few minutes. "How did the rest of Hueco Mundo respond to this?"

She smiled inwardly, careful to keep her face neutral. Looked like Aizen was going to chase this piece of—useless—information around.

"Mixed. Us Hollows didn't take to it too kindly when Soul Reapers come into Hueco Mundo and start killing us."

She fell silent. Aizen snorted. "Continue."

"Uh-huh. On the other hand, when the person acknowledged to be one of the most powerful—if not _the_ most powerful—gets killed off, we've got to wonder. After all—"

"You're Hollows," Aizen cut in. "You respect strength."

She nodded. "Yeah. So we're torn between being angry with a Soul Reaper offing Luisenbarn, and respect for a Soul Reaper _because_ she was able to off Luisenbarn. Dilemma."

"And how was it resolved?"

She shrugged. "Don't ask me. I don't speak for every Hollow in Las Noches."

The captain frowned, leaning forward. "It's because she's managed to convince you Hollows that you're something other than voracious, mindless beasts?"

Beasts...?

She snarled, leaping to her feet. She heard the sound of something breaking. Dish

Who cared.

"Beasts?" she snapped, baring her teeth and tossing out some spiritual pressure. "Where do you Soul Reapers get off? Every single damned one of you is so freaking arrogant."

Aizen looked at her mildly. She was _this_ close to taking off his glasses and stuffing them down his throat.

"You prey on defenseless souls and Hollows weaker than yourselves," the Soul Reaper said calmly.

"And so what?" she growled. "If you can fight back, you can. If you can't, too bad. Better than your Seireitei. If people don't have your bullcrap noble blood or a Soul Reaper's spiritual pressure, they get tossed out into the Rukon slums to rot. Yeah, we prey on souls. What do you do? You herd them away from your exclusive little club and pretend they don't exist.

"_How_, exactly, are you people any better than us?"

She felt pain on the palms of her hands. She unclenched her fists and stole a quick glance down. Her fingernails had bitten into her flesh.

Aizen just kept on his goddamned neutral expression. She wanted to wipe it off the guy's face. Never mind the fact that, past all the questioning and that she was, you know, a prisoner, Aizen was a civil Soul Reaper.

And never mind the fact that Aizen could kill her without trying too hard.

She shook her head. And what the hell? Why, exactly, would she be going nuts over a comment like that?

She jerked when Aizen rose from the chair and started towards the door.

"Thank you for the information, Laiggs," the Soul Reaper said to her politely. The man shut the door behind him, and she heard the heavy bolt locking in place.

She blinked.

She'd ranted at the guy. What useful information could Aizen have gotten from that?

* * *

"How long have you guys been at it?" Yoruichi asked Hirako.

"Just about forty minutes," she heard the Visored reply.

"Huh," she murmured to herself. "Forty."

Ushoda had erected a triple-ply—maybe even quadruple—kido shield that was about thirty meters in diameter. Contained within the enclosure was Ichigo and, currently, Mashiro Kuna.

Kuna had had to don her mask. Easy to see why.

Ichigo was rapidly mutating into... something. The human's body had bulked up grotesquely and gone bone-white, and what looked like a tail was jutting from the human's tailbone. On top of that, the kid's nails had lengthened and thickened into talons, and Ichigo's legs had taken a digitigrade stance.

And Ichigo had a mask that was rapidly covering up the kid's still mostly-human face.

Even at that size, Ichigo was moving as fast as she'd ever seen the kid move, and, master of flash-step that she was, she was impressed. Couldn't hold a candle to her or Soifon—and probably widdle Byakuya or Aizen—but she had a feeling that the kid was just going to get faster as his powers matured.

"Mashiro!" she heard Hirako yell. "Time!"

She saw the female Visored nod and back away towards the barrier. A section of the kido wall dimmed, and the former lieutenant backed out.

"If this goes badly, and you see any of my true loves walking around, tell 'em I'm sorry," she heard Hirako say to her. The Visored flashed-stepped down, moving through the gateway Kuna had used to leave.

"He's an idiot," she heard a voice say from next to her. She turned. And looked down.

Sarugaki.

"From what I heard he declared his undying love to every woman he meets. Also heard that it's always a lie, of course."

She heard Sarugaki mutter something unintelligible. She cocked an eyebrow.

"What was that?"

"Nothing."

She grinned. "Angry that he never said anything to you?"

The little Visored glared.

She sighed. "Like I said, he's a liar."

"You Stealth Force ninja types were always so damned weird," Sarugaki growled before stalking away.

She chuckled. The more things changed, the more they stayed the same, huh?

She watched Hirako and the Hollowfying Ichigo go at it. Looked like the human had more raw power than Hirako, Visored powers or not, but Hirako was much more experienced and had full control of the power he did have. Given time, Ichigo would wear down the former captain, but she guessed that's why the Visoreds shifted every ten minutes.

The former Squad Five captain had donned his own mask as Ichigo leveled a hand at Hirako. There was a scarlet flash as a cero missed the Visored by a few centimeters and battered against Ushoda's kido shield. She watched Hirako capitalize on the dodged attack and slam a shoulder into the Hollowfying human.

Oh. Bad decision. Ichigo barely rocked from the impact, and with a sweep of an arm sent the Visored tumbling away. The human roared, the inhuman sound shaking the air. Ichigo took a step towards Hirako... and stumbled to the ground.

She frowned. There was a bad wound on the inside of Ichigo's left knee. Severed tendons. She quirked a grin as she turned back to look at Hirako. Huh. She hadn't seen the attack, presumably landed when Hirako had tried to body-check Ichigo. Of course, the former captain probably knew Ichigo's skin would be tough to hack through, so he had had to get in extremely close to deliver that blow.

Which had been hidden behind a stupid move like getting into talon distance of a Hollowfying person.

Heh. That was Hirako for you. Master of obfuscation, tricks, and confusing tactics.

Hirako circled slowly around the crippled Ichigo, darting in and out to deliver shallow wounds to the human's pale skin. Ichigo didn't shy away from the attacks, instead trying—clumsily—to land a blow on Hirako.

Then she noticed some kind of white, amorphous substance flowing over the wound on Ichigo's knee. She frowned. Was that...?

With another bellow, the human got back to his feet—wound apparently no longer a problem—and flashed towards the Visored. Hirako avoided the rush and again nicked Ichigo.

All part of the subjugation process. Right now—obviously—the Hollow was in full control of Ichigo's body, explaining the human's monstrous physical form. What the Visoreds were doing—wounding Ichigo, keeping up a never-ending string of fresh opponents in line to fight—was weakening Ichigo's body, and, by extension, inner Hollow. They weakened the body enough and—hopefully—the kid would be able to wrest control back from the Hollow and establish dominance over its power.

She had faith in Ichigo. No offense to the other Visored, but the human had more raw power than any two of them—former captains included—and resolve and sheer bullheadedness that all eight them couldn't hope to match.

Still, watching that slowly mutating body wasn't exactly fun to watch.

She sighed and slipped a hand into her pocket, withdrawing a cell phone. She tapped in a few numbers and waited for her pal to pick up.

"Urahara's Taxidermy!" she heard Kisuke pipe. "You snuff it, we'll stuff it!"

"You used that one last week," she said dryly.

"Oh, I did, didn't I," Kisuke reflected. "Anyway, how's our favorite orange-haired substitute Soul Reaper?"

She took the phone from her ear and pointed the receiver towards the battling Hirako and Ichigo, just as the Hollowfied human roared. She put the cell back to her ear.

"So, yeah," she said.

"I see," she heard Kisuke say, the other Soul Reaper's voice turning serious. "You think he'll pull through?"

He shifted her gaze to Ichigo as some kind of... toothy appendage burst out of the mutating human and tried to take a chunk out of Hirako's flank. The former captain hacked away at it until it was severed.

"Without a doubt. He's not going to have fun with it, though."

"That I'll believe, on both counts." There was a pause on the other end. "I'd better get preparations ready."

She frowned. "Preparations?"

"It isn't going to be easy to open a Garganta to Hueco Mundo, Yoruichi."

She looked at the speaker on the phone. Was the thing malfunctioning? She was pretty damned sure Kisuke had just said he was going to open a Garganta to Hueco Mundo.

"What?" she asked flatly.

"Face it, Yoruichi. We're less likely to talk Ichigo out of taking on Las Noches than we are of asking the sun not to come up in the morning. And that includes asking it when you don't have your shirt on."

She snorted. "You always find a way to work my chest into our conversations."

"I know, right? Anyway, I figure, instead of making his life tough for him, we do our best to make sure he gets there in one piece. Who knows, he might be able to piss off Unohana enough to unbalance her."

Something didn't seem right, though. "But from what Hirako and the others think, Unohana _wants_ Ichigo to charge into Hueco Mundo. The data supports that theory."

"Unohana wants Ichigo to go barreling in angry, confused, not in control of his inner Hollow, and without a clue." There was crackling of static as Hirako blasted Ichigo with a Cero, the reishi causing interference with the phone signal. "We calm him down. Make sure he knows that friends have got his back. Give him the information he needs. And, most importantly, get that damned Hollow under wraps."

She watched as Ichigo again charged Hirako, only to be intercepted by Lisa Yadomaru from the side. Hirako backed off, and the female Visored pressed the attack.

"Well," she said to Kisuke, "first things first..."

* * *

Nelliel was awake and clutching _Gamuza_ before she was even aware of what had awakened her.

Spiritual pressure. Reasonably strong. Hostile. Congruous with the usage of Cero or Bala.

Coming from the direction of the suite where Inoue was being held.

"Damn it," she hissed, charging out the door. She'd left her jacket behind, only wearing her sleeveless tunic and pants, and the air was chill against her bare arms. She heard more doors banging open. Pesche and Dondachakka.

She gathered reishi to her and slashed through the air towards the captive human.

There. She gripped the door and attempted to pull it open. Wouldn't budge. She took a quick scan. Humph. The hinges were bent completely out of shape.

With a grunt she rammed her fingers into the door, flexed, and ripped it from its frame. She tossed it behind her, careful not to hit her Fracciònes. She gripped her zanpakuto's hilt and stepped through.

The room was smoky, but she couldn't see a fire. Must have been extinguished already. Inoue was there, on her feet, backed into a corner. The girl was shaking, and she could see minor bruises and scrapes, but nothing life-threatening.

And...

She bared her teeth and flashed forward with Sonìdo, coming up to a white-clad figure at the center of the room. A blood-spattered Luppi Anetor slowly turned to her, the Octavo Espada's customary facetious grin plastered on his face.

She drew _Gamuza_ a few centimeters from its sheath. "You have ten seconds to explain what happened here," she breathed. She made sure not to add that she would take off the other Arrancar's head if she didn't like what Luppi said.

The other Espada's grin tightened ever so slightly, and she just noticed that Luppi's hand had inched closer to _Trepadora_.

They were, after all, Hollows. They didn't respond very nicely to threats.

"Oh, stop that," Luppi bantered in a way that was just short of being disrespectful. "I'm the good guy here." The Octavo Espada gestured to the ground between himself and Inoue. She frowned and looked towards the floor.

There were... bodies on floor. Two, maybe more. Hard to tell, since they'd been mangled and burnt—either by Cero or Bala—badly. She narrowed her eyes and stalked closer, kneeling down next to one of them.

Half of the face was just barely recognizable. This one was Loly Avirrne, one of Rudobon's Fracciònes. Probably meant the badly burnt body next to Loly was Menoly Mallia, another security Arrancar. She rose from her crouch and turned back to Luppi.

"Explain," she said tersely.

"What's there to explain?" the other Espada asked hypothetically. "I found these two trying to cause mischief to our lovely captive over there." Her fist tightened on her katana when Luppi turned to the girl and smiled lasciviously. "So, being the loyal Espada that I am, I prevented it."

"Permanently," she muttered, looking over the two mutilated corpses. "You are more than powerful enough to subdue them without killing them."

"But where's the fun in that?" Luppi turned towards the hole where the door used to be. "Well, I think I had better make a report to Lady Unohana about this. Have a nice night, Nelliel."

She just grunted in response. The Octavo Espada stepped out of the room, whistling.

"You know, just between us, I never really liked him," Pesche said quietly when Luppi was out of earshot.

"Peshe, Dondachakka," she said, pointedly ignoring the comment, "secure the area. Assure Rudobon that the prisoner is safe. And send a runner for people to clean up this mess.

"Yes, Mistress," her two Fracciònes replied as they left the room.

She let out a breath and turned to Inoue. The human had stopped shaking, but the girl was still pale and looked jumpy.

"Are you okay?" she asked the human.

The girl nodded mutely.

"I'll get you some medical attention. Wait right here." She turned to leave.

"Wait," she heard Inoue squeak.

She turned, cocking an eyebrow.

"I can heal myself."

"Then do so. I know how fragile humans are."

"After this."

After what? The girl had walked over to where the two grisly bodies sprawled out on the floor. Orhime kneeled by Menoly and raised hands over the body. She could barely hear the human mutter something before two lights darted away from the girl's hairpins. The two motes hovered above Menoly's body and generated golden energy in the shape of an ovoid shield.

Eh. It was Inoue's healing field, that much she knew from Specialist Ise's briefings. But a healing field only worked on something that could be healed. You couldn't restore corpses that needed a jigsaw puzzle expert to make sense of.

Wait. Something was happening. The healing bubble distorted her view somewhat, but she saw matter forming out of thin air within the healing field and converging on where most of Menoly's body was. And the pieces...

She blinked. That was impossible. More and more conjured material converged on Menoly's corpse, slowly making it whole again. If there was any sign that the Fracciòn had died—violently—a couple of minutes ago, it wasn't apparent.

Inoue's golden energy field faded, and a few moments late Menoly's visible left eye opened. The other Arrancar leaped to her feet, eyes panicked, and she frowned when she saw a swirling crimson energy ball building up in Menoly's hand.

"Damn it, no," she snapped, bounding over and grabbing hold onto the hand that was generating the Cero. She sent her own reishi through her arm, disrupting the growing Cero and extinguishing it.

She moved her hand up to grasp the front of Fracciòn's tunic. "Menoly Mallia, stand down. _Now_."

The fact that the person in her face was Nelliel Tu Odelschwank and not Luppi Anetor finally seemed to register.

"Primera Espada!"

Good. She released the shorter Arrancar, but stayed ready. If Menoly attempted to harm Inoue she would be forced to incapacitate the Fracciòn.

Menoly still looked—understandably—jumpy. "But... I... How did I survive that Cero blast? Luppi, he..."

"You didn't," she replied soberly. A familiar glow bathed the room again, and she saw Inoue directing those miraculous powers on Loly. She stole a glance back at Menoly as Inoue reconstructed the other Fracciòn's ravaged body.

"But how..." Menoly gasped, trailing off.

"I'm not the one to ask," she murmured to the shorter Hollow. "I had no idea she had this power, either."

A few heartbeats later Loly was sitting up, with the same wild look that had been on Menoly's face. She was barely able to get to the dark-haired Fracciòn in time before Loly started tossing around a Bala.

"Stop, now," she hissed. "You are in no danger."

The words didn't seem to register on the smaller Arrancar, dammit. It was a bit tough restraining Loly without hurting the weaker Hollow.

"Loly, stop!" she heard Menoly cry hoarsely.

Silence.

"Menoly," she heard Loly say, voice shaking. "Luppi vaporized you. Everything from the waist up was _gone_." The Fracciòn swallowed. "And then he—"

"Ripped you apart," Menoly finished, looking ill. "Your body. On the floor. It was..." The blonde Arrancar stopped talking.

Almost simultaneously, the two other Arrancar looked up, confused and almost a little frightened, at Inoue.

"What are you?" Loly whispered.

Silence.

Okay, enough.

"Menoly, Loly, you are both going to be confined to your quarters," she said loudly, putting enough volume—and a tiny bit of reishi—into her voice that made sure the two Fracciòn were focused on her. "I will speak with both Lady Unohana and Rudobon about what has happened here and what shall be done with you two.

The two female Hollows just blinked and nodded.

"Pesche, Dondachakka," she said, over her shoulder. "Escort these two to their chambers. They are not to leave. I will have Rudobon send some Exequias to relieve you."

"Yes, Mistress Nel," her Fracciòn said to her. They escorted Menoly and Loly from the room.

When they were alone she turned to Inoue. Only now had the human begun to heal her own face.

"What happened?" she asked simply.

"The two of them came into my room," Inoue replied, looking down at the floor that was still stained with the blood of the recently dead Fracciònes. "They asked me how a human like me dared wear these." The human motioned to the clothes similar to the garb of the Las Noches Arrancar. "They demanded to know why I was being treated so well, what made me so special, why Unohana finds my powers so fascinating."

The human fell silent.

Simple, at the least. Menoly and Loly had felt threatened by this human, in their own petty, petulant logic. Perhaps it never occurred to the two Fracciònes that Inoue was a prisoner in Las Noches, not an honored guest.

Hollow mentality, again. There was a threat in front of you. Destroy it.

Then again...

She looked over Inoue's face, now absent of bruises and cuts, then down at the stained floor. Truth be told, Inoue's powers unnerved her on a deep level. Hollows were beings born from death, who fed on death, and who reveled in death. It was an uncomfortable thought, considering how much she had changed since becoming a fully- aware Adjuchas, but she couldn't forget her heritage.

And that heritage was terrified of a power that could make death irrelevant. Made her wonder what was going on in Menoly's and Loly's heads. Or even her own Fracciònes'.

She started when she heard pounding footsteps behind her. Ah. So lost in thought she had lost environmental awareness. That was bad. She stole a glance and saw several non-Numeròs Arrancar, plus about a dozen of Rudobon's Calaveras.

"Please, clean this place up," she requested. The other Hollows gave a meek bow and began fixing up the suite. The Calaveras took up positions silently around the room.

These Arrancar were hard workers, but it would still be a while until the room was put back in order.

"Inoue, come with me," she said, turning towards the door. She heard footsteps fall in line behind her as she left the wrecked suite.

"Eh, where are we going?" the girl asked.

"I think it'll be a bit hard for you to get to sleep in there," she said, motioning with her head at the room, "so you can have my quarters until they are finished."

"Oh," she heard the human say in surprise. "Is, er, that allowed?"

She shrugged. "I don't know. I do dare say Lady Unohana trusts me enough to make a decision like this, though."

"Ah."

She walked the corridors with the girl. She could have made it back to her own room in a few seconds if she used Sonìdo, but, obviously Inoue couldn't. Thus the stroll back.

Inoue seemed to be holding up very well considering that she had been in grave danger not too long ago, and had witnessed firsthand some very grisly deaths. The human seemed meek and non-confrontational—no, Inoue _was_ meek and non-confrontational—yet it seemed the girl didn't rattle easily. The human wouldn't raise a finger in anger, but something that, by rights, should have left a human gibbering and cowering in a corner hadn't had that effect on Inoue.

She was sure the human was still feeling the terror and adrenaline rush of the attacks, but they hadn't migrated to that portion of a person's mind that would leave them catatonic.

She shook her head. Hard to understand, indeed.

They were here. She pushed open the door and ushered Inoue inside.

"I have a shower, over there," she said, pointing. "I'll get some clean clothes brought over for you."

"Thank you, Nelliel," the girl said quietly, stepping towards the washroom. Inoue slowed and turned to look back at her. "What... what will happen to those two Arrancar that attacked me?"

Odd question. "I'm not sure, to be honest. They will definitely be punished, especially when you consider that it was Lady Unohana's direct order that you not be harmed in any way. I'd even go so far to say that it might warrant an execution order."

Inoue spun round, eyes wide. "Nelliel, please, if you can, make sure it doesn't come to that?"

She frowned, puzzled. "I have little control over what happens to them. It ultimately comes down to Unohana and Rudobon, since those two are his Fracciònes."

"There is nothing you can do, at all?"

"I do suppose I can use my influence and rank to at least sway them towards one decision or another, but that's the extent of it." Something was bothering her. "Why, though?"

"Because I... I don't like seeing fighting, especially if it's on my behalf. Anytime it happens someone gets seriously injured, or dies, and I hate it." Inoue looked away. "It's naive of me to think so, I know."

"I don't think so," she said gently. Surprising that she had such similarities with this human girl. "I remember telling you that I, too, also detest fighting, yet I do what I must." She gave Inoue a faint smile. "I haven't seen you shy away from battle when your friends are in danger."

The human didn't reply.

"When no other options were open to you, you killed the Hollow Numb Chandelier, didn't you?"

Inoue nodded.

"And when you encountered hostile Soul Reapers, or Hollows, or Bounts, you never left your friends' side."

Nod.

"And," she dropped her voice to a whisper, "when we took you, you never stopped struggling against us, even when you know it was, ultimately, futile. I remember the wound on Nnoitra's cheek."

She noticed that Inoue had gone stock-still, and that the girl's hands had balled up into fists. Suddenly she understood.

"Don't blame yourself for any of this. It's not your fault. You have been as strong as anyone could have asked for."

She looked into Inoue's eyes, and saw that haunted look again. Same look as when she had brutally neutralized Kurosaki. Humph. She really should talk to the girl about that, sometime. After all, Inoue didn't seem to have anyone else to talk to.

"Get yourself cleaned up. I'll get some fresh clothes brought in before you're done with your shower. I'll also see if I can intercede on your behalf for Menoly and Loly. And I'll see if I can get some breakfast in here, too.

The girl nodded. "Thank you, Nelliel. Although, er, isn't it a bit early for breakfast?

She blinked, then chuckled. "I swear, everyone is out to get me."

* * *

"Phew," Shinji said with a whistle. "I guess that's that."

After just over an hour of blood, sweat, and tears—with maybe a Cero or two mixed in—Kurosaki had finally gained control over his inner Hollow, and was laying there on the sand, panting and too exhausted to move.

"So, what's your plan for the kid?" he asked the two people next to him, Urahara and Shihoin.

"We give him as much information as we have, we give him a Garganta straight into Hueco Mundo, and then we aim him at Unohana," he heard Urahara explain.

"Heh. 'Aim him.' Almost sounds like you're thinking of him as a weapon."

"Oh, he's going to be," Shihoin said. "But like Kisuke said, we're going to be arming him as best we can."

"But is it going to be enough?"

"Don't know," Urahara replied. "What I do know is that Ichigo here is _really_ good at surprising people, myself included."

He nodded at that. Kurosaki was stirring on the ground weakly.

"Orihime. Have to... Orihime..." the kid murmured, before collapsing back down.

Yeah. Kid was full of surprises.

"All right," he said to the two Soul Reapers. "He's all yours. Do for him what you can." He turned to look at his Visored comrades. "We've got preparations of our own."

"Preparations?"

"I was perfectly happy to sit this fight out," he explained. "As you can tell, I'm not the biggest fan of that zealot Yamamoto or the idiots on the Central Forty-Six. But I'm willing to help him out." He motioned with his chin at Kurosaki. "Unohana decided to play hardball when her Arrancar minions took a joyride in Karakura.

"When push comes to shove, we'll move to assist the Soul Society."

* * *

_Author's Note: Dramatis Personae/Author's Note section section has been updated._


	20. Part IV: Point Of No Return

**_DOWNFALL_**

By

Gregory Wong

* * *

**_PART IV: POINT OF NO RETURN_**


	21. Chapter 15: Patterns

**_DOWNFALL_**

By

Greg Wong

* * *

**Chapter 15: Patterns**

* * *

Isane yawned and sat up on her futon. Ugh. Time to wake up already.

She dressed and fixed _Itegumo _to her sash. She departed for her office—well, Unoahan's old office that she'd taken up shop in—and grabbed her clipboard and notes. Now, off to the medical wing.

It was as busy, as usual. Many of the Soul Reapers who had taken serious injury during the skirmish with the Espada a week ago were still being looked after by Squad Four. To be optimistic, however, the majority of them didn't require additional hospital care and could have healed on their own; she had just wanted to have them here to be healed thoroughly.

Hmm. Better check on the patient with the badly damaged ribcage and—hmm?

"Oh, hello Kaien," she said to the other lieutenant. The man was sitting next to the bed of one of the injured Soul Reapers, and it looked like they'd been having an animated conversation.

"Ah, Isane, how are you doing?"

"Good, thank you. I was just here to tell Tenth Seat Yamazaki," she nodded and smiled at the female Soul Reaper on the bed," that all tests came back good. No further internal injuries. You'll be discharged tomorrow."

The Squad Thirteen Soul Reaper thanked her. She nodded.

"I have to check up on other patients, so I'll leave you two to talk." She gave a wave and left.

Oh? She heard the door open and close again.

"I have more of my people to see, so I guess I'll follow you around for a bit."

She looked down at her clipboard. "Next patient is at the other end of the facility, if you don't mind."

"Not at all."

As they walked towards the next room, she noticed Kaien looked distracted. Unfocused.

"What's on your mind?" she asked.

Kaien looked at her, surprised. "That obvious?"

She nodded.

"Heh," the other lieutenant chuckled. "It's nothing, really. Just wondering what I could have done different that day." It looked like Kaien wanted to speak more, so she didn't say anything. "Like maybe I should have concentrated my forces more before moving in, or leading off with some kido attacks to gauge the Arrancar's combat abilities. Or maybe I could have opened a larger lead between me and the other squad members. I can take harder hits than them."

"Kaien," she said gently, touching the man's shoulder. "What happened, happened. You did exactly as your training dictated. It's just bad luck that the first time you saw an Arrancar it was those Espadas. No one was prepared for that, even the captains."

She saw Kaien shake his head. "I know all that. Doesn't change the fact that a lot of my people were killed and severely injured."

"And what about you? You took some bad hits, Kaien. And you refused medical treatment until I basically held you down and healed you. And you say you should have widened the lead between yourself and your men? You would have been killed!"

Kaien grinned ruefully. "Yeah, I see what you mean. Rukia wasn't too thrilled when I suggested that, either. Gave me an earful about recklessness. And this was right after she and her friends had been attacked."

"I'm sure anyone else in your squad would have said the exact same thing."

The other lieutenant shrugged at that. "Maybe, maybe not. Rukia has taken to scolding me a lot lately." Kaien ran a hand through his hair and lowered his voice to a stage whisper. "And I think she's angry at me."

"Oh," she noted with a chuckle. "Do tell."

"That I allowed her to be ordered off to the World of the Living. Probably thinks I didn't contest the order so that she would be out of harm's way." Kaien let out a bitter laugh. "For all the good _that_ did."

"_Was_ that your reasoning?" she asked.

"I don't know," the other lieutenant admitted. "I'd rather not have her on the front lines, is all."

She frowned. "Why don't you? She's one of the more powerful members of your squad, isn't she?"

She watched the man scratch his chin. "To be honest it didn't cross my mind at the time. But you're... right, it could have been a big help. And she would have been here and not in the World of the Living." Kaien turned to her, a wry grin on the man's face. "If she was here, I—and, uh, the rest of the squad—would have her back. Back during that kidnapping in the World of the Living, if the Arrancar had wanted people dead, nothing would have stopped them."

She blinked. Kaien's tone and wording were... interesting. "Well, next time something like that happens, you'll be around, yes."

"Really hope there's no next time," Kaien replied. "Not too keen on exposing... everyone to that meat grinder again."

Hesitation again. She would bet that Kaien was preoccupied with...

Hmm. Interesting thought. And here she thought Renji and Rukia... but no. Could it? Hmm. Whatever was up with Rukia Kuchiki, it wasn't going to be boring, to say—

A light flared into existence in front of her face, before spreading itself into the rectangular shape of a _Tenteikura_ communications spell. Huh?

The face of her seventh seat appeared in the window. "Lieutenant Kotetsu!"

"Yes, what is it?" she asked the young woman. The officer looked strained.

"We need you in ward room seventeen, stat! Eighth Seat Morino just went into cardiac arrest!"

"Damn it," she swore under her breath. She turned to Kaien.

"Get going," the male Soul Reaper said to her.

He nodded and took off running.

* * *

"Data is inconclusive," Nanao explained. "All we have to go on is half-legible design blueprints and maybe the five minutes that Dordonii's attack group was exposed to it."

"Isn't that enough to extrapolate from?" Ukitake asked her.

She shook her head. "Not in any meaningful way, no. The exposure was too brief to get any hard data."

"Suggestions?" Unohana asked.

"Other than drawing the Squads out and forcing them to use the reishi-dampers, no. I could always try to get another infiltration team inserted into Kurotsuchi's lab to secure some information, but I'm very low on agents at the moment. Plus, with the Seireitei on alert like this their chances of success would be slim, at best. Too slim to risk the time, effort, and personnel."

"Then I suppose our only option is to force them to use one of those devices and record its energy patterns," Unohana reflected. "Optimistically, we might even be able to capture one."

"Although _that_ presents a problem in and of itself," she heard Kyoraku note. "We won't be able to just send in a bunch of Calaveras, because, as Rudobon noted," her former captain nodded at the Noveno Espada, "they're made of pure reishi and the disruption is going to severely hamstring them."

"Which means we'll have to have several regular Arrancar mixed in to have any chance of success." She turned to Unohana. "Ma'am, I suggest dispatching a force of Calaveras along with some Numeròs to draw out the damping devices. I'll lead a team of intelligence agents to analyze the signal patterns and capabilities on-site."

"Excellent suggestion," Unohana said. "However, I would like more combat-capable Soul Reaper and at least one Espada present, as well."

"I can—" Kyoraku started to say.

"Jushiro, you will lead the strike force into the Soul Society," Unohana cut in. Aaroniero and Cirucci will accompany you." The other female Soul Reaper turned to her former captain. "Shunsui, some of the sentinel forces have sighted of a high-level Adjuchas or possibly a Vasto Lorde prowling the area around Las Noches. I'd like you, Wonderweiss, and Tia to look into it."

She noticed Kyoraku didn't look to happy with that, for whatever reason, but the man just nodded. "Very well."

"Very good. Specialist Ise, please formulate an operational plan and have it to me tomorrow morning for approval."

"Yes, ma'am," she replied.

"Then this meeting is over."

With that the Espada, plus four Soul Reapers, stood up from the table. Oh, one more thing.

"Nnoitra," she called to the Cuarto Espada. The tall Arrancar just grunted.

"If you would not mind, I would like to have Szayel Aporro along on this operation, as well."

Nnoitra just grunted again. Looked like a yes. She nodded politely to the Arrancar and departed the meeting room. Time to get to her office and draw up some deployment patterns.

"Nanao!" she heard Kyoraku call as she turned a corner. Hmm?

"Yes, Captain?" she asked.

Kyoraku gave a loud, exaggerated sigh. "You're going to be the death of me, Nanao. How many times am I going to have to tell you—"

"I'm not sure, Captain."

The other Soul Reaper made a sobbing sound.

She snorted. "But yes, what can I do for you?"

Kyoraku's expression turned serious. Oh? "I'd like you to reconsider personally leading the reconnaissance team into the Soul Society."

She frowned. "And why is that?"

"It's dangerous."

"It's been dangerous for us ever since we decided to follow Unohana."

Her former captain frowned back. "Don't throw those words back at me, Nanao. You know that if they catch sight of you, much less Jushiro, the entire Thirteen Court Guard Squads are going to be moving in to take you out."

She started into the man's eyes. "I know that. I'm not treating this as a combat mission. Far from it. We're there—_solely_—to gather much needed intelligence in preparation for a full mobilization against the Seireitei."

"You don't have to go, you know that. You've got plenty of agents who are perfectly capable of running the show. Plus your shikai will let you get a closer look anyway."

Heh. Kyoraku was really, really trying to get her to change her mind. This was something new. "I want to get a first-hand reading of the damping machines. Also, considering that the devices are made to disrupt and weaken Arrancar reishi, they won't have any effect on me. That means there won't be a chance that the damping will affect the perceptions of the Arrancar who are analyzing it. And speaking of my shikai, it's still very strenuous for me to peer from here in Hueco Mundo. The images will be much clearer when I'm in same dimension as what I'm looking at."

Kyoraku just nodded slowly to her when she finished. Hah. Showed him.

"Fine, Nanao, if you're going to insist." The man looked grimly at her. "But you stay far back from the battle line. As good at everything else you are, combat isn't your specialty."

She acknowledged that with a nod.

"You stick close to Jushiro, and when you get your plans drawn up, make sure you have several avenues of escape. And—"

"And I think you're starting to lecture me," she cut in, cocking an eyebrow.

The other Soul Reaper blinked, then chuckled. "Guess I am. Huh. Suppose we lighten up the mood. Hug?"

"I... think not."

"Darn. Well, I'll stop keeping you from your duties."

"All right then. Have a good night, Captain."

"And you, Lil' Nanao. Take care of yourself."

She started heading back to her office. She could hear footsteps as Kyoraku headed in the opposite direction.

"You too, Shunsui."

There was a brief pause in the footsteps before they resumed and fell out of earshot.

Oh, what the hell.

* * *

"Where the hell did your brother manage to squirrel all these away?" Renji demanded as he hefted another box full of documents onto his desk.

"I have no idea," Rukia answered. "I've always thought he was the orderly type."

"Well obviously not," he grunted, lifting up another crate. "And anytime I drop by your place stuff always seems so organized."

Really, it was crazy. There you had Byakuya, the quiet, solemn guy... who couldn't seem to file paperwork properly. Plus, how the _hell_ had his captain hid this much documentation from him? He was the damned lieutenant!

"Well, about that," Rukia said with a sheepish look. "I really do think it's my sister who manages the household whenever my brother isn't around."

"Your brother is usually here, so 'isn't around' is most of the time," he noted flatly.

The woman smiled. "Yeah, Hisana is just that good. I've watched her doing some accounting or balancing or something, and I can't really follow what she's doing."

"Maybe someone should hire her," he muttered, lifting yet another box. "If she were a Soul Reaper she could have my job."

"Oh, please," Rukia retorted. "You know the story about my brother, right? How he stonewalled Ukitake to prevent me from getting a seated position?"

Oh, that? "Yeah. Didn't want you getting any ranked position so you wouldn't be exposed to as much danger."

"Exactly. And I'm just the sister. Imagine if the _wife_ was working here."

He thought about that for a couple of seconds. "Yeeeah, I see what you mean. She wouldn't be allowed to leave his sight."

He heard the woman chuckle. "Yep. That's my brother."

He grabbed the last box out of the closet, and dropped next to the others. He sighed. Now for the filing and reorganizing.

"By the way," he said, "thanks for the help."

"Oh, don't mention it. I've got my own paperwork finished for the past few days, and I don't have active patrol until the day after tomorrow."

"Wish my captain could take a leaf out of your lieutenant's book and keep the damned documents organized," he said, shuffling papers. He squinted at one. Damn. This was from three months ago. Off to the other box it went...

"Well, Kaien does like to get the stuff filed away right away." He saw Rukia pause for a minute and study one of the memos. Then the woman wrinkled her nose and tossed it into one of the other boxes next to her. "And when we do have papers backed up, Kaien focuses on ordering them quickly. He's a machine at paperwork."

He frowned. Kaien, Kaien, always Kaien. "Yeah, I bet." He tossed a memo dated from a week ago into its respective box.

Hmm. He noticed he didn't hear any rustling from Rukia's direction. Whatever. He looked over another document. Hello, Budget Report From Three Months Ago. He tossed it into a crate.

"Renji?" he heard Rukia ask quietly.

"Yeah?"

"You all right?"

"Just dandy."

Heard footsteps. Suddenly, the smaller Soul Reaper was next to him. "Renji, really, what's up?"

"Nothing."

He heard Rukia make an angry noise, and all of sudden he felt a hand grasping his wrist.

"Renji, quit the tough-guy act. Dammit, I'm your friend. You can talk to me."

"I know you're my friend," he said slowly. "It's all right. I'm good."

Ouch.

He rubbed at the spot on his arm that Rukia had just slugged. "And what the hell was _that_ for! What was the whole 'we're friends' thing, huh?"

"Then quit the brooding and start talking. Geez."

He sighed. Byakuya had been right. Talking to Rukia about important things was... weird.

"Not now," he said after a few moments. "We _really_ need to get this stuff squared away."

Rukia just stared for a few moments before letting his arm go. "Fine."

And back to paper shuffling.

"Renji?"

"Hmm?"

"Sorry."

He blinked. "For...?"

"I know I'm always talking about Kaien. It must annoy you. Really, sorry for that."

Wait... oh, no, he was _not_ going to start thinking about that. "I've live."

He felt the smaller Soul Reaper's eyes on him. Eh? He turned his head to look at Rukia. His friend had a sheepish grin on her face.

"Well, to be honest, I think it's only fair, though."

Uh, okay? "What do you mean?"

"Well, whenever I'm working with Kaien I'm inflicting _you_ on his ears. He doesn't go... skulk like you do, but he always tries to change the subject." Rukia chortled and rubbed a hand through her hair. "Weird, huh?"

He skulked? It wasn't like he—

Wait, Rukia talked about him?

He blinked at Rukia... then started arranging the papers again. He heard Rukia clear her throat loudly and resume her own work. It was slow going—he was really, _really_ going to talk to Captain Kuchiki about this—but at least it was taking his mind off of things.

He remembered what his captain had asked him following the betrayal of Unohana and the others. How he didn't know how he felt about Rukia. Did he have an answer yet? Was it a good one?

He slipped the last of his documents into the correct box and latched on the cover. He starting heaving the damned things back into the storage room. He also noticed that Rukia was avoiding eye contact.

Last box in. He shut the door. That was that.

Well, almost.

He heard footsteps heading towards the exit.

"Rukia."

"Yes?" the woman answered, not turning around.

"You have patrol duty tomorrow?"

"No."

"Okay. Lunch tomorrow. Me and you. That one place in the Rukon we always went to when we were able to scrounge up enough cash."

_Now_ Rukia turned around. There was a strange, almost confused look in the other Soul Reaper's eyes. He probably looked the same, come to think of it.

"Oh." he heard Rukia whisper. "Renji."

Okay, this was stupid. He honestly felt like wrestling with a Gillian right now instead of waiting here. Oh, wait! He'd forgotten he had other stuff to do! Right. Better get on top of it.

"Sorry," he said hurriedly, brushing past the surprised Rukia. "I've got stuff to do, and I'm tired. Don't know where that question came from. Didn't mean to—"

"Tell you what," he heard Rukia say.

He froze.

"I'll... you see..." he heard the woman take a breath. "Six o'clock."

"One o'clock?"

"I'll be there at six o'clock, dummy," Rukia repeated with a grin. "I have some things to do earlier in the day, so I can't do lunch. Dinner, sure."

"Oh. Right. See you there."

"You too. Bye."

"Bye."

He continued on his way to the other end of the barracks. Maybe... maybe he'd hold off on the Gillian wrestling for now.

But, dammit, he had to have a word with his captain.

* * *

Hmm. There weren't enough high-seated officers for fill in the patrols. The captain had ordered that patrol leaders had to be eighth seat or higher, and all aforementioned seated officers were already accounted for. _She_ could take the extra team, but she wasn't sure the captain would let her. Maybe if she—

"You get way to engrossed in your work, you know that?"

Momo yelped, jerked in her seat, and just barely avoided splattering ink onto the timetable she'd been working on.

"T-Toshiro!"

"_Captain._ _Hitsugaya_," Toshiro corrected her with a faint grin.

"Oh, you can forget about that!" she spluttered. "What is it with you captains sneaking around and creeping up on people like that?"

Toshiro raised an eyebrow.

"Oh, Toshiro," she sighed, seating herself. "Sorry. When I'm so 'engrossed' in my work I get startled easily."

"Obviously," her friend remarked drily.

She took a couple of deep breaths. "But anyway, what can I do for you?"

"I'm actually waiting for Captain Aizen. Do you happen to know where he is?"

Wait, huh? "Not at the moment, no. But I'm fairly sure he wouldn't be waiting for you in _my_ office."

The captain stared for a moment. "Eh-heh. Right." She saw Toshiro's eyes track upwards to the clock suspended behind her. "Although I'm a bit early, anyway. I'm scheduled to meet him in half an hour."

"Oh. Early." She fiddled with the brush she'd dropped. "Er, would you like some tea while you wait?"

"If there's some to be had." She started to get up. "Wait, what are you doing?"

"Getting tea."

"Momo, you have subordinates to do things like that."

She smiled weakly at that. It was perfectly true that there were other people to do the minor, secretarial things like this.

"I know. I can do it for... for a friend, though."

She swallowed. Her mouth had gotten a little drier when she had said that.

But the tea. Yes, get the tea. In the other room. Right. Tea.

"Momo."

She stopped.

"Never mind about the tea. I'm fine."

She turned. "Are you sure?"

"Quite."

She nodded, and stepped back to her desk. Oh, wait a moment. Toshiro didn't have a seat. Couldn't sit down while she made a captain stand, could she?

"There's a couch behind you, Captain Hitsugaya," she said formally. "You can have a seat while you wait."

"It's all right." Toshiro frowned at her when she didn't set herself. "Sit down, Lieutenant. You've just recovered from a severe injury, and I'd rather you not strain yourself."

She shook her head. "Captain, I've had more than enough time to recover. I..." She sighed. "You know, this is incredibly awkward."

She heard her friend chuckle. "And that's an incredible understatement." She heard Toshiro clear his throat. "I'll stop distracting you. I'll have a seat and wait until Captain Aizen is ready. Yeah." The younger Soul Reaper stalked over to the couch and

Toshiro looked perfectly ready to wait that half hour until the meeting took place. It must've surprised the captain when she walked over to the couch and sat next to him. Not _next_ next to him, but rather on the other side of the couch. But still next to Toshiro.

"I remember you wanted to talk," the younger Soul Reaper said to her. "About... stuff."

She hadn't said "stuff." She'd said "_us_." Awkward really _was_ an understatement. Even better, it looked like Toshiro was feeling as uncomfortable as she was about this. At least they had something in common.

"_Us_," she corrected. And her voice only squeaked a _little_ bit when she said that.

"Right," Toshiro said stiffly. "And what of us? I'm a captain, you're a lieutenant. We grew up together. What is there to talk about?"

She almost frowned. Looked she would have to be the one to get this conversation going towards... towards wherever it was going to go.

Probably best to start from the best place, right? The beginning.

"I spoke a little bit more with Captain Aizen and Rangiku about the fight in Central Forty-Six." She shuddered bit. She remembered _Kyoka Suigetsu_ piercing her. "When you... saw me, lying there, they told me you went straight to bankai. You charged Kyoraku, Ukitake, and Unohana head on."

"Your point?"

"You've always told me you like to do things methodically and with a plan. Which is funny when I remember how you used to chase me around the house pelting me with watermelon seeds, but yeah."

"You remember that?" Toshiro asked her.

"Hard to forget," she said with a smile. "But that's beside the point. What I was trying to say was that you went... berserk when you saw me."

"It was three against one, and they're the most powerful captains the Soul Society had, not counting the Head-Captain. Of course I would unleash my bankai."

"Rangiku told me your reishi was so uncontrolled you started to freeze the building. You've got such a good control over your spiritual pressure that I don't think you'd lose your hold on it, especially in that situation."

"I was going in without a plan, Momo. I was faced with Unohana and the other two. Captain Aizen, who's more powerful than I am, was unconscious on the floor. I have no problem admitting I was afraid of what could happen next."

So stubborn! "Toshiro, you've never—"

"Momo," her friend said suddenly, cutting her off. "What, exactly, is the point of all these questions?"

She choked up on what she was going to say next. Oh, fine going this was! She was trying to get Toshiro to say...

What, exactly? That the captain had lost control because he had seen her on the floor, critically wounded? And what conclusion, exactly, did she want to hear from that? She placed her hands on her legs and gripped the material of her hakama. Might as well say this now. Good a time as any, yes?

"There was a time that I... that I loved Captain Aizen."

She heard motion, and saw that Toshiro was suddenly looking at her, hard. Hadn't said anything though, which seemed like a good thing, right?

Uh.

Oh dear.

She had finally said it, hadn't she? To Toshiro, no less. Wow. Her brain really was jumbled up. Maybe the coma had really done a number on her.

She swallowed. Well, it was out in the open, now. All there was left was to say her piece and... well...

"Ever since that rescue when he and Lieutenant Ichimaru saved us from those Hollows, I've always harbored... something for him." It was almost like she wasn't the one doing the talking. It was like she was hearing a girl with a voice exactly like hers saying these things to Toshiro. "I wasn't able to get my mind off him after that night.

"Eventually, after I graduated from the Academy, I applied to Squad Five and was accepted. From there I learned more about him, about who he was.

"People noticed that he seemed to have a perpetually neutral—maybe even _bored_—expression on his face, and that led many to believe he was indifferent to the people around him. It's not true at all. He's a very kind, thoughtful man. If we had something on our minds, he'd listen. He never promised to be able to listen long, yes, but he'd set apart some of his day to talk.

"I'd talk to him on occasion, like when I was worried about my friends in the other squads, or when I was feeling inadequate in my duties, or even when I started to feel a little homesick." Should she mention that during those talks she hadn't even thought about Toshiro? No. Probably not something to bring up. "He would always listen. Give me some comforting words. That kind of thing."

She stole another glance at Toshiro. Still looking at her intently.

"Several years back," she began, "When I had just been promoted to lieutenant, I was on a patrol on the outskirts of the Rukon District. There was another girl there, a year or two younger than me. Fresh from the Academy. Momoko Suzumori was her name. We got along pretty well, in part because we would joke how close are names sounded.

"During our patrol, a pack of Hollows attacked. We were ultimately able to destroy them, but not before Momoko and three others were killed." She grit her teeth. She remembered that day. She'd only learned _Tobiume_'s release command a few weeks before. If only she'd been faster, more assertive, she could have saved them.

"I was distraught. I had let some of my people down, including a girl I was sure I could have been good friends with.

"I talked with some of the older Soul Reapers, some counselors. It helped. A little"

She took a deep breath. And now, the hard part.

"I stayed out on the training grounds until it was late, thinking. Just... thinking." She hung her head, remembering. "It was getting close to midnight when I headed back towards the barracks. I wasn't heading towards my room, though. I went to Captain Aizen's."

Toshiro shifted again, and, somehow, the boy's gaze was even more intense. She wasn't sure what emotions the captain was feeling. She swallowed.

"He was still up, doing calligraphy. Or paperwork. I don't remember." She toyed with her hakama. "He asked me if I needed someone to talk to. Guess he knew what was on my mind. I said yes. About three minutes into the conversation I... reached forward and hugged him."

Hugged Captain Aizen _hard_. It had been the closest she'd ever been to the captain. It had been nice.

"He returned the embrace. Not nearly as hard, though. A few second later I was bawling my eyes out, and my mind was all in jumbles. I was exhausted from all that had happened that day. I should have been resting hours before then, but... I couldn't.

"I don't know long I was there holding him, but it must have been a long time. I remember him picking me up and placing me on his futon. I remember him just look down at me after he'd put a blanket over me. I remember... waiting."

"Waiting for what?" she heard Toshiro ask her.

She felt he cheeks turn hot. "For... I don't know! Something." Her voice was a whisper now. "Anything. That was when I realized I loved him."

"And?" She heard her friend ask her quietly after a long pause.

"Eventually I fell asleep. When I woke up, it was morning and Captain Aizen was not in his room. I later found out that he spent the night in his office."

"And after that?"

"We didn't discuss it. He acted like it hadn't happened, and I did the same. Life went on, yet it was somehow... different for me."

She fell silent. Her mind was going through too much to keep a conversation going. She'd start babbling. Why, exactly, would she tell Toshiro that she loved Captain Aizen?

"Why tell me all of this, Momo?"

She turned to Toshiro. The younger Soul Reaper's eyes had softened a bit.

"I wondered why Captain Aizen hadn't... done anything with me that night. It's not like there hasn't been a precedent with a captain being in a relationship with a subordinate or another captain. I know that Captain Shihoin and Captain Urahara had had an on-off casual relationship, and there had been something going on with Captain Kyoraku and Lieutenant Yadomaru, too. And those are only the cases I know about. I'm sure there are more.

"It's technically forbidden, but no one really enforces it, not even the Head-Captain, as long as it doesn't affect our performance and it's kept discreet. So that wasn't the reason.

"We share some of the same hobbies. Like the same things. He's not bad looking. Noticeably older than me, yes, but nothing too awkward. So I wondered why." She swallowed again. Her throat was painfully dry. "I eventually realized that Captain Aizen hadn't wanted to take advantage of me. I _was_ in a distressed state that night. But, in the end, I think the captain was making sure I wasn't being impulsive and doing something I might have regretted."

"Momo, you haven't answered my question."

She started. Oh, goodness, she really _was_ babbling. She took a deep breath. Here it went.

"Maybe it's just not meant to be," she said slowly. "And I didn't realize something until after I woke up from my coma. You were always there, Shiro. In the Central Forty-Six Chambers, at my hospital bed, and even now. And realizing that, I discovered that..."

Here it went, for better or for worse.

"That I care for _you_, Toshiro."

Silence. Stretched for a few uncomfortable moments, until she heard Toshiro clear his throat.

"We grew up together. I _hope_ you care for me." She noticed that the captain's voice was gruffer than normal.

"You know that's not what I mean, Toshiro."

Toshiro looked blank. Somehow, her throat had lost even more moisture. Oh, she knew it! It had been a fool's errand to do something like this. She should have never brought this up. She should have continued with the paperwork. She should have—

Jumped when she felt Toshiro's hand lightly brush hers. Eyes wide, she looked back at her friend. Toshiro's eyes looked... odd. Like they were struggling to stay in that perpetual serious expression but slowly failing.

"I'm pretty sure you'll never remember to call me 'Captain Hitsugaya'. I'm always going to remember that one time you woke up after wetting the bed. And yes, I'm going to remember chasing you around the house pelting you with seeds." Toshiro's voice dropped an octave. "I'll also remember how you looked after a little brat like me, and how you're always smiling whenever we talked. And, you know, truth is, I—"

And then she heard the door to her office slide open.

* * *

"What do you want?" the Espada demanded.

"Just to discuss something. With all of you," a figure cloaked in shadow said, spreading his arms to indicate the three dozen Arrancar currently in the room... including several of the Espada. Every one of them had found a letter addressed to them, giving them a date and time to meet in this room.

The note also instructed them to tell no one else about the rendezvous.

"Make it quick," one of the taller Hollows rasped. "We have better things to do than creep around Las Noches."

"You never struck me as a hard worker," another Arrancar said.

The taller Arrancar growled, but didn't otherwise respond to the jab.

"Very well," the stranger said. "I wish to discuss... let us say, the current management."

"What of it?" one of the Arrancar said, a tone of suspicion in her voice.

"Nothing drastic," the shadowed figure said. "I would just like to know how the rest of you feel about being governed by a Soul Reaper."

There was abject silence in the room, save for the rustling of clothes or the sharp intakes of breath. Then one of the Arrancar spoke up.

"She is strong."

That, of course, spoke volumes. They Hollows bowed to powers greater than themselves, and Retsu Unohana, who had slain the mighty Baraggan Luisenbarn, unmistakably had great power.

"Strong enough to keep our respect?" the shadowed figure asked rhetorically. "Certainly she is powerful. I will not dispute that. But you know how she acts... _why_ she acts. She governs us as a means to end. She wishes to protect the Soul Society. Does that mean nothing to you?"

"_She is strong_," another Arrancar repeated emphatically.

"And you will blindly accept what she has planned for us because of it?" The figure walked to the center of the room to stand amidst the other Hollows. "She intends to cripple us, chaining us up like dogs. Have you not forgotten that she has forbidden the predation of Wholes?"

"We do not require them," another Hollow spoke up. "In Hueco Mundo the reishi density is more than thick enough that we can subsist on it without feeding on souls."

"So you consign yourself to a miserable half-life?" the stranger said to the speaker. "We are Hollows, not sheep to be satisfied with grazing on the bland energy of this world."

There was a soft murmur as the attending Arrancar spoke amongst themselves.

"What do you suggest?" someone asked the stranger.

"That Unohana be replaced."

More muttering.

"If you wish to usurp leadership from Lady Unohana, you are welcome to try."

"If I must. The timing is not opportune. We must bide our time, strike at a sign of weakness."

"You wish to skulk in the shadows and stab at her back? For all your talk about a Hollow's place in the world, you sound like a coward," another Hollow said scornfully.

"I am a _predator_," the stranger growled, releasing a flood of spiritual pressure. Several of the surrounding Arrancar recoiled from its power.

The energy tapered off, and stranger peered around the room.

"We will know when the time is right." The figure paused. "It is not now. It may not be for a long while yet. But rest assured that the day _will_ come."

Without a further word, the stranger strode out of the room, leaving the gathered Arrancar to reflect on what they had heard.

* * *

"Lieutenant, I'm going to need..." Sosuke trailed off.

Well, this was new.

He was fairly sure that, in the several years that Momo had been in Fifth Squad, that she had never _glared_ at him before. Not quite a angry one, but his lieutenant looked very... displeased right now.

Captain Hitsugaya, surprisingly, didn't quite share his lieutenant's expression. The younger Soul Reaper looked equal parts relieved and confused.

"Is something the matter?" he asked neutrally.

The moment that left his mouth his lieutenant blinked. "No, nothing at all, Captain Aizen." Rather _too_ quickly, Momo picked herself off the couch and returned to the deck, returning to work and pointedly ignoring Hitsugaya.

And was that a blush he had seen on Momo's cheeks?

He shook his head and noted the pile of completed documents sitting on the desk.

"You've been working on those all morning. I'm not going to be angry if you were to take a break."

Momo nodded. The girl was still a bit flushed, but that was fading and she seemed calmer overall.

He turned to look at the Squad Ten captain. Hitsugaya looked blankly back.

He should really ask what this had been all about. But later.

"Lieutenant, I'm going to have one of the fourth seats finish the patrol schedule," he said. "I'm going to need you on my analysis team."

"I... what? Captain?"

"Speaking of which," he said, turning to Captain Hitsugaya, "it's almost time for your team and mine to meet. I apologize for not being here sooner, but I had some things to do."

Things involving a vague, cursory conversation with Gin and Kaname, but no one needed to know that right now.

"Not a problem," Hitsugaya said.

"But Captain, I have to finish the, uh... and the—" Momo started to say.

"Lieutenant, in all honesty, do you think drawing up timetables is the best use of your abilities?" he asked.

"Er..."

"I don't," he heard the Squad Ten captain say.

Momo suddenly looked self-conscious. "Well, if you both say so..."

He just nodded and started heading towards the command center. He slid the doors open and was greeted by the sight of several dozen Soul Reapers of various ranks setting up equipment and spreading hardcopies. The Squad Five and Ten troops stood to attention when they entered.

"Continue," he said simply, and the Soul Reapers resumed their preparations.

It took about another six minutes, but he, Captain Hitsugaya, and Momo were seated at a table while the other Soul Reapers had broken up into their respective analysis teams.

The junior teams did a lot of the messy work, taking the raw data gathered by Squad Two, the Stealth Force, and the various patrol forces, and compiling it into concise reports. Those outlines were then sent to senior teams who did a thorough examination. If the senior groups found something noteworthy, they forwarded it to Hitsugaya or himself. Or Momo, now that he had the girl here.

A buzz of chatter started up as the groups began their tasks.

Hitsugaya started studying some outlines one of the senior analyst teams had flagged.

"That's odd," he heard the younger captain mutter.

He stepped over and looked over the outline spread out on the table. It was a map of one of the outer West Rukongai areas, and several areas on the outskirts were marked by pen. A note written near the top indicated that the marks represented sightings of Arrancar scouts.

Hmm. He picked up the hardcopy that had accompanied the map. According to the dates the sightings had increased dramatically since the day of the attack on the Rukon districts and the abduction of Orihime Inoue. Yes, it _was_ odd.

"My first thought would be that Unohana would be scouting out the area for a follow-up attack, but it's too obvious and clumsy."

"Perhaps," Hitsugaya said. "But what doesn't make sense is why this is the only region showing an increase in activity while all the others show a _decrease_. She's obviously interested in this area."

"But for what reason?" he asked, looking up at the younger captain. "That area is one of the more heavily-patrolled ones. Any attempts to establish a beachhead will be shut down a few moments after Arrancar forces emerge."

Out of the corner of his eye he saw Momo quietly leave his side and move to talk with one of the junior teams.

"But that's working on the assumption she means to attack again in force. Perhaps she wants to insert more of those spies again. If they're good enough they can enter without us detecting. Hiding in plain sight, so to speak."

"Would she risk that, though? Considering we've managed to run down many of the scouts and eliminate them, I would think she's running short on personnel."

"How can we know—"

"Er... Captain Aizen?" he heard Momo speak up from beside him. "Captain Hitsugaya?"

He saw Hitsugaya blink, surprised that Momo would interrupt. _He_ was surprised too.

"Yes, Lieutenant?"

"I spoke with some of the intelligence teams, and like I overheard you saying, sightings have increased in this area," Momo gestured to the map, "but not in others, which were _decreasing_."

The moment Momo had finished speaking, he saw what the girl was getting at. Huh. Why hadn't he seen it before? He smiled inwardly and let his lieutenant continue.

"Except for this one area," Momo went on, unrolling another hardcopy map onto the table. "As far as the analyzing teams are able to tell, scouts have shown a _constant_ activity here."

"So it's a feint," the Squad Ten captain said thoughtfully. "Pretending to show interest in one area, while not sacrificing her intelligence-gathering on this one." Hitsugaya looked up. "All right. We'll need to augment the other squads' patrols with some of our own, but not too drastically. We don't want them to know that we've caught on."

He nodded. "I'll get my people on it." He turned to Momo. "Very good observation, Lieutenant."

Momo smiled faintly and nodded back.

The hours crept along. It was a bit more bearable now that he and Hitsugaya had a third person was spreading the workload and offering some good insights. And it looked like Momo was enjoying this kind of thing, too.

Note to self: no more menial desk jobs for the lieutenant.

He called for a recess after four hours. Everyone was working hard, and he didn't want fatigue causing someone to overlook some detail. An hour would do.

With that said, he was perfectly fine, and Momo and Hitsugaya seemed to be perfectly alert themselves.

Which was good. He wanted to talk to them.

"Do you think this war can be stopped?" he asked suddenly.

Hitsugaya looked up slowly. "When we win it, yes."

"Or, if _they_ win it," he added.

"I think I'll refuse to even consider that outcome," Hitsugaya replied. "I must say, though, that you asked a very odd question."

He smiled thinly. "What's normal Hollow behavior."

"Attack what can be defeated, flee what can't. Sure, you might get the occasional egotistical Hollow that think it can eat a captain, but by and large that's been the observed behavior."

"What else?" he asked.

Hitsugaya was hailed as a prodigy, and, without any mincing of words, the reputation was well earned. He could see that the young captain already knew where this conversation saw going.

"They lack any type of organization. The idea of spying, but not attacking, is foreign to them. They band together only reluctantly and scatter easily."

He waited.

"I'll refuse _that_ possibility, as well."

"Excuse me," he heard Momo say apologetically, "but I'm not sure I'm following this."

"Usually Hollows attack individually, since it's their nature," Hitsugaya explained. "Every once and a while circumstances will force them to band together, and sometimes those packs will move on the Soul Society in force. They're extremely disorganized, though, and the moment they're faced with any significant amount of resistance—say, a captain backed up by his squad—they will cease their attacks, and probably disband soon after."

"But these Hollows—Arrancar are Hollows, after all—have been met by all the Thirteen Court Guard Squads, and they haven't backed down yet," he heard his lieutenant say after a brief moment. "Which means Captain Aizen is wondering if they'll back down at all."

Definitely no paperwork, ever again.

"Yes. And the implications of that are worrisome in their own right," he said to the others. "On one hand, there's the possibility that Hollows _are_ capable of showing a united front against some impediment or perceived threat. Which means that they are capable of changing. Of course, the other possibility..."

"Is that what we thought we knew about Hollows was never correct to begin with," he heard Hitsugaya finish. He heard the younger captain's voice drop to a near whisper. "The word 'worrisome' doesn't cover it. At all."

"What do you think, Captain?" he asked Hitsugaya.

"I... think a combination of the two alternatives, with the possibility of a third."

"Unohana."

"Yes. We've never fully understood Hollows, so I can accept there being gaps in our intelligence. I also don't believe anything is truly static, especially an entire race; there _will_ be Hollows who can break the mold."

"But that doesn't explain everything, does it?" he heard Momo reflect.

"No," he said. "And I agree with what I think Captain Hitsugaya is saying. It's Unohana. She's capitalized on what we didn't know, forcing us into guesswork. She also used her own formidable power to... nudge the Hollows into an organization that is distinctly un-Hollowlike. They will acquiesce to powers stronger than their own, and once Unohana established her dominance she would be able to influence them that way."

"You don't think this war will be easily ended," he heard the Squad Ten captain say quietly. It hadn't sounded at all like a question.

He nodded slowly. "Indeed. I do believe that this confrontation will be brought to a conclusion, one way or another, but I know it's going to be very ugly. For both sides."

Which was why he had brought up the question in the first place. He had a sinking feeling about the outcome of this war, and he needed to come up with some... contingencies. He had used to the question to gauge Hitsugaya's reaction, and, to some extent, Momo's as well. It was too early for anything to be concrete, but he had to start immediately.

"I see," Hitsugaya said with a sigh. "Still, what was a strange and... morbid question."

He kept his expression neutral. The odd question hadn't escaped Hitsugaya's notice, but he'd been deft enough in his words that Hitsugaya most likely hadn't pieced things together. But if the other captain had, it would complicate things. And if Hitsugaya thought badly of it, it could be worse.

He sighed inwardly. So many variables. So many damned variables.

* * *

Why was she so... anxious?

Rukia sighed and fiddled with the settings at her table. Renji was late. Or maybe she was too early. Or maybe she was a tiny bit early and Renji was a tiny bit late. Or maybe Renji had ditched. She wouldn't be happy with that, of course, but it wouldn't be too big of a deal. Right. Yeah. Right. But then again...

Then again... why the _hell_ was she fiddling? Just a meal. With a friend.

"Man, you're early. You that hungry?" she heard someone say from behind her.

She swiveled her head to look. Renji. Finally here. "No, you're late. Slacker."

Renji snorted and pulled up a seat across the table. "Okay. Compromise. You're early and I'm late."

She stared at her friend, then burst out laughing. When she got a hold of herself a thoroughly confused-looking Renji had flagged down a waitress and ordered some tea.

"I'd ask what's so funny, but I have a feeling you wouldn't tell me," the other Soul Reaper said."

"Maybe after we're done eating," she said airily.

Renji cocked an eyebrow at her. "You sound like you're in a good mood."

"Laughing will do that to you," she said. "But don't worry, I'm in my normal mood."

"Is that a good or bad thing?"

"Renji, what do you think?"

Her friend started to reply, but the serving girl had come over with their tea. Hmm. Place looked like it was starting to get busy, so they'd better order. She requested a plate of rice and shrimp dumplings, along with an order egg flour soup. Maybe... ah, what the heck. She added an order of diced cucumbers too. She had enough coin for the meal.

But it looked like Renji had only gotten a small order of taiyaki, which was weird. Renji loved those fish pancakes, so why had her friend only gotten such a small portion? Renji wasn't a small guy.

"Hey, you're not hungry?" she asked.

"Uh... right. Yeah. Not hungry."

She snorted. Renji was a terrible liar. Always had been. The other Soul Reaper's honesty was kind of... cute.

Right.

"But really," she said, pretending to ignore the lieutenant's explanation. "Why such a small serving?"

Renji grimaced. "Don't have enough money."

Wait, huh. "You don't have enough money to feed yourself?" She heard grumbling in response. "I mean, if you spent it all on... well, whatever you spend your money on, I can lend you some."

Suddenly, Renji looked horrified. "No! Don't do that! It's covered!"

What was covered? Hey, wait a second. "Renji, you weren't planning on _paying_ for me, were you?"

"Eh heh, funny you should suggest that. Well, er, you see, I kind of, uh..."

Oh, Renji _was_ intending to pay for her. "I can pay for myself just fine. I—" she stopped midsentence when the lieutenant looked like he was going to have a panic-attack.

She frowned. Why was Renji being like this. It wasn't like they were...

Were they?

She shook her head before looking back up at her friend. "Tell you what. You can pay for _half_ of what I ordered, okay?"

Renji still looked uncomfortable. "Rukia, really, I should pay—"

Before the lieutenant could finish whatever it was he was going to say, she twisted in her seat and stuck her hand into the air. She caught the waitress' eye. "Two more orders of taiyuki for him, please!" she called loudly. The serving girl nodded and moved off towards the kitchen area.

She turned back to Renji, whose mouth was still open in midsentence. Her friend's jaw worked a few times before closing. "You know what? You're killing me, Rukia."

She snorted in response. "Your stomach can thank me later."

Renji sighed. Good. At least her friend wasn't trying to fight anymore. "You know, this is all wrong," the other Soul Reaper said.

She cocked an eyebrow. "Now what?"

"I'm a guy. I asked you out to eat. I, uh..."

She blinked. "You, what?"

She saw her friend grimace and lean forward a bit. "I'm the guy who asked you out to dinner," Renji repeated. "I should be paying. I mean, it's not a problem. Well, it is a problem since you went and ordered more for me and all, but, uh..."

"And we're arguing in circles," she said with a laugh. "I can pay for myself just fine. I get paid the same as you do for being a Soul Reaper, plus, if you didn't forget, I'm one of those big-shot nobles with more money than is good for them."

"It's the principle!" Renji insisted stubbornly.

"Renji, what principle? I have enough money."

"It's not about the money," she heard her friend say quietly. "Dammit."

That dolt. Then what was... was...

She blinked. Renji was looking at her, hard. Annoyed expression, but not really annoyed at _her_. Just... frustrated.

It was just dinner. Renji was normally collected. Sure, the lieutenant had his hot streaks every once and a while, but not over something so trivial as who was paying for the meal. She was confused as...

Wait a second. Dinner. Friends wouldn't mind paying for themselves. When a guy asked a girl In That Specific Way, he always offered to pay.

Now things made sense. Back during the fiasco with the Sokyoku Renji had actually gone head-to-head with her brother, a fully-fledged Soul Reaper Captain. More recently, Renji had been finding tasks where he would be working with her. All those questions about Kaien.

"Renji..." she whispered.

Renji just laughed wryly. "For such a smart person, you can be pretty dense sometimes, Rukia." She saw he friend grimace. "And I just insulted you. Look, I'm real good at this."

For someone who didn't talk about his emotions or not, this was pretty big coming from Renji. She had no idea what to say. Or do. She had just wanted to eat, dammit, not... this.

Okay, she had had a feeling that Renji might... have a thing for her. Renji had been a typical boy when they'd first met—you know, the whole "girls have cooties" thing—but he'd grown up. The fact that they had to rely on each other just to survive in their district hadn't hurt, either.

They drifted apart after her adoption in the Kuchiki clan, and the next time she knew Okay, she had had a feeling that Renji might... have a thing for friend had become a lieutenant and was doing his best to take her into custody, injuries be damned. They'd never talked about it, but she was sure Renji had been hurt that she'd abandoned the Seireitei—even if only temporarily—and given the lion's share of her spiritual energy to jump-start Ichigo. She was even going to bet that her friend had been a bit jealous, even though she didn't think of Ichigo in that way. Yeah, leaving the Soul Society to hang around a strong, brave Soul Reaper who wasn't bad to look at would give someone those impressions, wouldn't it?

And then the whole thing with the Bounts, the encounter with the Arrancar, and everything. And she hadn't seen it. Renji was right. She really _was_ kind of dense.

But now the question was what she was going to do?

She jerked in her seat when Renji suddenly started talking. "Rukia, just... I need to know. Kaien and you."

Renji just _had_ to bring Kaien up, didn't he? So not only did she have to think about the... situation with Renji, but with the Squad Thirteen lieutenant as well.

Did she honestly have an answer? Gah. Why now? Why here? Stupid Renji.

"I... I don't know. Honestly." She let out an annoyed breath. "This is too much, Renji! I was looking forward to dinner, not..." she gestured at her friend, "this!"

Renji just gazed at her for a few moments before giving a sigh and...

The only word she could think of was "deflate." Renji's shoulders slackened ever so slightly, and her friend just sat back in his chair. It was kind of painful to see.

She leaned forward and gently placed her fingertips on the back of the lieutenant's hand.

"I really don't know what I'm thinking. Honest truth. But..." she looked into her friend's eyes. "You were my closest friend when we were growing. Heck, you were my _first_ friend when I woke up in the Soul Society. And that means something."

Renji just started back. The other Soul Reaper started to say something.

There was a jingle, and a hell butterfly fluttered into view between them. Huh?

* * *

_Notes Update 5-7-2011_


	22. Chapter 16: Dominos

**_DOWNFALL_**

By

Greg Wong

* * *

** Chapter 16: Dominos**

* * *

Retsu clasped her hands behind her back and patiently watched the reconnaissance assault unfold. Nanao had fed some relay beacons through the Dangai Precipice World that would pipe back audio and video—plus some additional sensory data—from intelligence drones that would be accompanying the force. The eyeball-like probes would provide auxiliary data to accompany Nanao's, Szayel Apporo's, and Cirucci's.

Jushiro was leading the attack force, whose aim was to draw out the Soul Reapers and their damping devices. The skirmish that followed would give Nanao and her intelligence teams much-needed data. Simple operation, really.

Yet... she knew that no plan—simple or not—survived contact with the enemy. She had thought of many variables, planned for many contingencies, yet there was no way she could plan for _everything_.

She stole a glance off to the side, where she saw Nelliel watching the screen intently. The taller woman had grown friendly with Inoue—as friendly as Nelliel's position as an Espada and Inoue's status as a prisoner would allow, at any rate—and the Arrancar genuinely seemed to be looking out for the human's welfare.

She would have a talk someday with the Primera Espada about the dangers of growing too close to your charge, but that was a infinitesimally minor issue amid a sea of larger problems. And, in truth, if her goal of seeing the Soul Society preserved was to be realized, it would require Hollows to hold a relationship with humans and Wholes that didn't involve digestion.

Although... that would probably require people like Inoue as well. She had ordered the immediate execution of Menoly and Loly for their attack on the girl. She would brook no insubordination, especially when it involved Hollows. They would seek out signs of weakness, and not killing two disobedient Fracciòn would be seen as just that.

However, Nelliel had requested that they be punished, but not executed. That had admittedly puzzled her, until she had investigated a bit and discovered that it had been Inoue's request originally.

She'd spoken with the two Arrancar. They seemed wary, almost terrified, of Inoue's power, and not without reason. Yet, under that fear, there was a small sense of respect for that power... and the fact that Inoue had even brought them back from the dead after they'd assaulted the human.

After some consultation with Rudobon, Nelliel, Shunsui, and Jushiro, she'd released them from the Noveno Espada's command and taken them under her direct control. Their duty now was to be Inoue's personal guard and escorts.

Loly and Menoly seemed... ambivalent about the whole affair. And while assigning them to Inoue was almost like putting the foxes near the henhouse, she had a feeling there wouldn't be a repeat of the incident.

Ugh. Her mind was wandering. She had to focus on the task at hand, especially one as important as this.

Her role, now, was more as an observer than anything. She could attempt to send communications to the attack force, either by kido or devices, but the slowness that they would take to arrive would render them outdated by the time they got there. Now she was just trusting Jushiro and Nanao to complete their tasks.

* * *

Nanao crouched down as the Garganta contracted to a mere slit behind her. That way, it wouldn't be overly conspicuous, yet would allow data to be fed back to Hueco Mundo.

In front, Ukitake crept forward, past the small hill that was hiding the strike force from view. The older Soul Reaper turned and beckoned to her. She moved up, past the Arrancar and Calaveras, to Ukitake.

"I already sent some Numeròs and Aaroniero west to scout ahead of the main body," the man said to her. "We'll begin our attack once we get an all-clear from them."

She nodded, and crept back behind the hill. She motioned to her intelligence personnel, who began to prep their equipment.

She watched them work quietly. Had it not been for the various mask fragments on their heads they would be indistinguishable from Soul Reapers doing an identical task.

She shook her head. Focus, focus. She took a quick glance over the strike team.

Cirucci Sanderwicci had been initially ordered to be on the mission. After some thinking, though, she's suggested that Gantenbainne come, as well. It was not supposed to be a combat mission, but she didn't want to take the chance that the data would be compromised because the Thirteen Court Squads were overwhelming them.

Szayel was also along, mostly because the Fracciòn was extremely intelligent. Intelligent to the point of arrogance, in fact, but the Arrancar knew his job so she could bear that for now. Mila-Rose and Dondachakka were also ordered to be here, for the same reasoning as Gantenbainne's presence. Rounding out the group was a hefty number of Rudobon's Calaveras, some "natural Arrancar", and a handful of Arrancar crafted by the Hogyoku. The most senior of these artificial Arrancar, a bald, dark-skinned, sinister-looking man, was kneeling on one knee, silently, at the perimeter of the force.

Unohana had privately asked her to observe these new Arrancar, as well. Breaking off one's mask was always a difficult, sometime traumatic experience, and only older—or more powerful—Menos had a chance of surviving the event. What the Hogyoku did was bypass all those requirements and simply make the Gillian, Adjuchas, or Vasto Lorde in question an Arrancar. Unohana wasn't sure of the physiological or psychological implications of the forced procedure, hence this observation of them in the field.

She took a deep breath. Pre-combat nerves. Hadn't felt those in a while.

Ah, no worries. Ukitake was an excellent commander, and this was just a simple operation. Nothing to worry about.

Nothing at—

"Someone's coming," one of the Hollows managing the robotic probes hissed.

"Feed it to me," she snapped, pulling out her command console and setting it up into video mode. Images appeared on screen. Four young children, punting a kemari ball around, were approaching their position

"We must eliminate them," one of the intelligence Arrancar said with an utter lack of emotion.

"You will _not_," she commanded, letting some of her spiritual energy flow. It wasn't much to boast about, in the grand scheme of things, but it would show that she meant business. The Arrancar whom had spoken made an assenting grunt.

She swiftly moved forward back up to Ukitake. "I'll handle this," she said tersely. The other Soul Reaper just nodded.

She took a deep breath, gathered reishi around herself, and flash-stepped into the underbrush a few dozen meters in front of the children. Good. They seemed so preoccupied with their game that they didn't detect her.

As the kids drew near, she began to recite an incantation in her head. Which was hard, since the approaching kids were chattering rapidly.

"Pass it here! Pass it here!"

"No!"

"Aw!"

"Your aunt said to pass the ball more often!"

"No she didn't!"

"Yes she did! And she's coming, so she'll tell you to!"

She frowned. Someone else was apparently following the children. Strange. By the way the youngsters were talking, it sounded like the aunt would be here soon. But that person would have to be close, and by then their probes would have detected the aunt as well.

Something wasn't right. Too late, though. She was committed to action.

She rose up from the brush suddenly. The closest child squawked and toppled over onto his behind. The ball the youngster had been bouncing sailed off.

She let her gathered energy out. "Bakudo fifty-eight, _Hakufuku_."

Hazy energy washed over the four children, who all quietly slumped to the ground, unconscious.

Well, that had gone better than expected. The spell would keep them unconscious for a couple of hours, which should be more than enough time for the strike force to complete its mission.

Her command device buzzed. Frowning, she took it from its holster and flipped it on.

"Specialist Ise!" one of her operatives hissed at her. "A Soul Reaper is approaching!"

Damn. That answered her questions. "Hold position," she said. She clicked the device off.

Quickly, she removed the clips from her hair, letting it fall out of the pinned-up position she normally carried it in. She also swept off her Las Noches jacket, which would be a dead giveaway to any half-awake Soul Reaper, and smudged some dirt on her sleeveless tunic to detract from its whiteness. The jacket was tossed into some bushes behind her.

And lastly, she took off her glasses. When she was still with the Thirteen Court Guard Squads, she was never seen without them. There was a strong chance that the other Soul Reaper wouldn't recognize her.

Crouching, she moved forward, past the kids... until she detected the energy of a flash-step. Damn. She hadn't moved far enough. Well, that meant the other Soul Reaper wouldn't be able to move past her.

She rose up out of her crouch. "Ah, darn," she mused loudly, bending over and raking her hands through the vegetation. "Where did I drop it?"

There was the sound of rushing wind, and a young woman in civilian garb appeared amid the grass. "Aki! Hideo!" she heard the Soul Reaper call. "Ugh. Those kids always end up running off."

The girl caught sight of her, stopping suddenly. "Oh, hello," the Soul Reaper called, smiling warmly.

"Hey," she replied with a smile of her own. She tried not to squint. Okay, she wasn't quite blind without her glasses, but things were noticeably... fuzzier. "You haven't seen a..." Think, think! "A jade hairpin around here, by any chance? My, ah, boyfriend gave it to me, and I lost it when our families were having a picnic."

Hopefully the girl wouldn't pick up on the fact that you didn't have picnics where the weeds were taller than the average toddler. She kept up her fake smile.

The other Soul Reaper looked surprised. "Can't say that I have. Then again, I just got here." The young woman scratched her head. "Now, to ask you: have you seen four children around here recently? About eleven years old, kicking around a kemari ball?"

"Actually, yes," she lied. "They came through here about half an hour ago. They were talking about going to the Western Seventy-Seventh for snacks. They offered to help, but they looked so hungry I told them to just go and have their food."

The other Soul Reaper gave a loud sigh and faced off to the east, towards the alleged snack place. "And I told them not to go there without me!" Shaking her head, the young woman looked back at her. "Well, I can catch up to them quickly enough, I guess. Maybe I can help you for a bit. This underbrush is a nightmare."

She fluttered her hands and shook her head. "No, no, that's quite all right. Truth be told, this is partly an excuse for me to leave the house, so I'm planning on milking all the time I can get out of this." She lowered her voice to a conspiratorial whisper. "My parents aren't too keen on the man who gave me the hairpin, and they won't let me hear the end of it."

The woman chuckled. "Ah, I see. Well, I know the feeling, sort of. A man is, ah, courting me, and my parents are being a bit more protective than I'd like. So I do the same thing too, sometimes. Would always drive my parents to tears." The young woman stepped closer. "My name's Sachi. It was a pleasure to bump into you."

She gave a polite bow. "My name's Nana. And the pleasure's all mine."

Sachi gave a bow of her own. "Well, hope you find that pin, Nana. Have a nice evening."

The Soul Reaper turned on her heels and started walking east, towards the Rukongai.

She let out a small sigh. That had been clo—

Suddenly, there was a sound, like something had been kicked. Sachi stopped, looked down at the ground, bent down, and picked something up.

Her heart beat faster.

The kemari ball.

Sachi slowly turned back to look at her. The pleasant smile had vanished from the girl's face. "What have you done with them?"

Her smile froze on her face. "What do you mean?"

"Don't lie to me," Sachi growled. "This is my nephew's favorite ball. It goes everywhere with him."

She waved her hands in a disarming gesture. "I'm not lying! Why would I lie to a Soul Reaper?"

The girl's eyes narrowed. "How do you know I'm a Soul Reaper?"

She couldn't think of a response to that one.

Sachi cocked her head, frowning. "Wait a second. You look familiar..." The other Soul Reaper's eyes widened suddenly. "Nanao—"

Even before the first syllable of her name had left Sachi's lips, she had brought up her hand and mentally recited a kido incantation. "_Byakurai_!"

A bolt of lightning stretched out from her index finger and pierced the girl through the chest. Sachi staggered, looking down at the thumb-sized hole that went straight through her body.

The young woman made a surprised sound before slumping bonelessly to the grass.

She took step forward towards Sachi, arm leveled and ready for another offensive spell. No need. The glassy stare told her that the young Soul Reaper was dead.

Dead. She'd just killed another Soul Reaper. A girl not much younger than she was.

Woodenly, she turned away from the corpse and gathered up her discarded clothing before returning to where Ukitake and the others were waiting.

The former captain looked up at her. "Nanao, are—"

"I'm fine," she said, her voice sounding harsh even to her own ears. "My team is ready to begin once you give the order."

* * *

Nelliel heard the door to the command center slide open just as Specialist Ise slew the intruding Soul Reaper.

"Oh, Nanao," she heard Lord Kyoraku murmur as the Ise began to jerkily retrieve her clothing.

She kept looking at the screen. It was obvious that the act had seriously shaken the intelligence specialist. The first time Ise had killed another Soul Reaper, it seemed.

Lady Unohana turned away from the screen toward Lord Kyoraku. "Shunsui, what news?"

Ah, yes, Lord Kyoraku had been investigating a possible lead on another Vasto Lorde or high-level Adjuchas with Wonderweiss and Tia.

Strange, though. Tia was more than capable of searching for a Hollow on her own, much less with Wonderweiss' aid. There was no need for someone else to come along, especially someone as powerful as Lord Kyoraku.

She stole a glance at the male Soul Reaper, who was only now turning away from the display to face Lady Unohana. Which, in turn, strongly suggested to her that Lord Kyoraku being sent out had been make-work. Lord Kyoraku was concerned about his former subordinate, and that concern might be a liability on such a critical mission as this.

To be fair, she knew Lord Kyoraku was a very dedicated and professional man, who wouldn't let something like that compromise the mission. But, on the other hand, she couldn't fault Lady Unohana weighing the possibilities and deciding something like that was not worth the risk. So off Kyoraku went while Lord Ukitake handled the operation.

She sighed inwardly. So complex. Back then it had been simple: eat or be eaten. Not complaining, of course.

"Well, we found some prints in the sand around the caves in the south. They were too faded to get a good read on the Hollow's size or shape, but the spacing made me think quadruped."

"And thus an Adjuchas," she added for Lord Kyoraku.

The man nodded. "Exactly, Nelliel. They shouldn't have any problem tracking it down when the time comes."

Hmm. Lord Kyoraku had said "they", as in he would not be in on the notional hunt. Commentary on how he would like Lady Unohana to handle the situation? Or perhaps completely unaware that the distinction had been made?

"True," she heard Lady Unohana say neutrally. The female Soul Reaper must have noticed the choice in Kyoraku's words just as she did.

"Now, with your permission," Lord Kyoraku said, "I'll deploy to the Soul Society to—"

"No," Unohana said brusquely.

"Unohana, I—"

"You won't be able to do anything, Shunsui," Lady Unohana answered, gently. "Going through the Garganta gate will interrupt the valuable data being streamed to us. Furthermore, Jushiro and Nanao have already allocated their available resources and are beginning their mission. Moving in, at this stage, will only serve to complicate their plans." Lady Unohana turned back to the viewscreen. "Have faith in Jushiro, Shunsui. You always have. And Nanao, too."

She saw the man's jaw flex, but Lord Kyoraku said nothing more. This was one of the few times she had seen Lord Kyoraku in such a... sober mood.

Shaking her head, she also turned towards the display before making a face. Didn't need to see this, in all honesty. She was here, an observer who could make no impact on the outcome of the operation one way or another. Hmm. Must be how Lord Kyoraku felt, to a degree.

"Something the matter, Nelliel?"

Ah? She hadn't been aware that Lady Unohana had even been looking in her direction.

"No, my lady. Just... thinking."

Lady Unohana just nodded.

* * *

"Any idea where she went?" Rangiku asked the eighth seat.

"No idea, ma'am. Haven't seen the seventh seat around anywhere."

"Oh, all right," she said to the other Soul Reaper, who bowed and went about his duties. She readjusted her yukata.

Humph. Unless she found Sachi, this was going to be a boring day off. Gin was on duty today, so no luck there. She'd already visited Momo, just to check up on the other lieutenant. Hmm. Marechiyo was on leave today as well. Maybe she could mooch. Free food was good food.

Or, you know, she could actually do something and look for Sachi. The girl had come to her asking advice about this one guy she had just started dating. She kind of wondered why, though, since she wasn't exactly a relationship counselor. Maybe because she was the lieutenant, and thus—hah hah!—a responsible person.

Or maybe because of Gin? That would be pretty funny. It wasn't like she and Gin were _obvious_ about it. No overt... groping or stuff. Groping was for private places. Right.

Although, with that said, she did have to admit that they were pretty good together. And maybe people noticed more than she realized.

Whoa. Maybe people were actually going to start looking _up_ to her. Gah! The pressure.

She snorted to herself.

Okay, operation Sachi-Hunt was go.

Well, first she knew that Sachi, like her, was from the outer Rukongai. The seventh seat also came from a positively huge family, and she knew for a fact that Sachi spoiled her youngest nephew Hideo rotten. Best to start with the house.

She managed to get to Sachi's family's house without incident. Well, kind of. Some fat guy had tried to cop a feel, but she'd caught his arm before any actual copping occurred and popped him one in the face. Of course she'd pulled her punch, and the pervert had beat it after getting socked, but, damn, she sometimes didn't like walking here without Gin. Gin just squinted and grinned and people didn't bother them at all. Maybe she should try the Gin-look one of these days, see how it worked.

Heh.

She spoke with Sachi's siblings. Apparently the girl had taken Hideo and some of the kid's friends out for some kemari early in the morning

It was nearing nightfall, and they weren't back yet. Weird.

She thanked the family and headed towards outskirts of the Rukongai.

Really, really weird. Sachi had really wanted to talk about the new date. And while she wasn't especially close to the seventh seat, she'd like to think that Sachi wouldn't just blow her off like this. Plus, the children had their curfews and it wasn't like Sachi to get the beloved nephew into trouble like this.

Well, in any case, she had to find that girl. She ducked into an alleyway and placed her hands in front of her.

"Bakudo seventy-seven, _Tenteikura_," she said quietly, focusing on an image of her captain.

And up popped the face of Captain Hitsugaya on the communications spell, doing paperwork like usual. Poor guy.

"Yes, Rangiku," her captain greeted her with his usual grumpy voice. "Hope you're enjoying your day off and interrupting my documents."

"Oh, it's splendid. Just a quick question, though: Any word on where Seventh Seat Takeuchi might have gone? I've been looking for her. We were supposed to meet to talk, uh... girl stuff."

Hitsugaya glared at her. "Rangiku, communications kido to an on-duty captain isn't supposed to be about personal matters!" She watched the boy grumble something that sounded like "girl stuff, really?" and rub his forehead. "Where was she last seen?"

"Outside the West Rukon District."

"That area, huh? If you're _really_ worried about this, I'll dispatch one of the off-duty teams out to you. I'm sure they'll _love_ searching."

Um. On second thought. "I... I'll pass on that, Captain. I'll just go myself. Have fun with your paperwork."

Captain Hitsugaya made an annoyed sound and cut the kido communication. Oh well, off to find Sachi and learn about what this new guy was like. Hopefully they could get food later. Or run into Marechiyo. Free food!

* * *

Something was bugging Toshiro. Couldn't put a finger on it, though. Well, having Rangiku call him randomly always annoyed him. This paperwork annoyed him. And despite the rumors that he was the anti-fun sourpuss extraordinaire, he wouldn't have minded being on leave today as well, just like Rangiku. The weather was nice.

And he could maybe have spoken with Momo.

Gah. Enough distractions. These patrol schedules wouldn't write themselves.

Wait a moment. Patrols. That's what was nagging at him. Rangiku had said outside of the Western Rukongai, but where, exactly? Humph.

He set down his brush and left his seat to kneel on the floor. He focused his energy and traced a circle on the floor.

"Hearts of the south, eyes of the north, fingertips of the west, heels of the east: gather holding the winds, scatter sweeping the rain." He focused mentally on Rangiku. "Bakudo fifty-eight, _Kakushituikaku_."

The circle flashed white, and an image of his lieutenant appeared briefly within the circle before being replaced by a series of numbers.

Hmm. Coordinates. He memorized them and dismissed the tracking spell with a wave of his arm. Hmm. Those coordinates seemed very familiar.

He went to his filing cabinet and flipped to one the relevant zones. Ah. Area Seven Ninety-Six. He plucked the schedule from its compartment and brought it back to his desk with him. He placed it next to the schedule he was working on and compared them.

Odd. The schedule for the other areas followed a shifting timetable, an algorithm, if you will. The constantly changing schedule would not allow Arrancar scouts to establish a pattern, at least not one that was anywhere near reliable. But area Seven-Ninety-Six... let's see. Yes. It's timetable was constant, with no significant changes within the past four months. It looked like a simple clerical error had been the cause. Hmm. Ah, no matter. He picked up his brush to fix the mistake. There was an opening for the patrols of the adjacent area to—

Opening?

He frowned. The method specifically meant to avoid predictability had not been followed for a particular area. One of his seventh seats, who was competent in her own right, had apparently been in area. From Rangiku's words, it seemed the other woman had missed some kind of meeting with his lieutenant. And—

Dammit.

No, no, no!

"_Third_ _Seat_!" he bawled. A heartbeat later his office's door crashed open.

"Sir! What—"

"Contact the leaders of Teams Four, Eight, Nine, and Twelve. Have their patrols mobilize _immediately_ to cordon off area Seven-Nine-Six. After that, contact Lieutenant Matsumoto and tell her to reconnoiter the area until the patrols arrive. _Go_!"

"I... Yes, sir!"

"Courier!" he shouted as soon as the third seat had left.

With a blur of flash-step, a Reversal Counter Force agent appeared. "Captain Hitsugaya?"

"Relay a message to Head Captain Yamamoto, and then to Captain Aizen." He dictated to the agent, telling him of his findings and suspicions. "Go!"

"Of course, Captain," the agent said, and was gone.

He rushed back to his desk to examine the hardcopy of Seven-Nine-Six. Captain Komamura was currently leading a patrol unit about one and a half kilometers to the south.

He opened a _Tenteikura_ kido to the Squad Seven captain.

"Captain Hitsugaya, what can I—"

"Captain Komamura, I believe there's a strong possibility of an Arrancar attack originating from patrol area Seven Ninety-Six."

He saw Komamura's ears prick up. Thankfully it looked like the Squad Seven commander trusted him enough not to question his suspicions. "I will divert my teams to investigate immediately."

He nodded to the wolfish Soul Reaper. "I have sent alerts to the rest of the Thirteen Court Guard Squads advising them of the situation. I will lead my own squad there once I have ensured the others have been made aware."

"Thank you, Captain," Komamura said with a nod. "I must go then."

He closed off the spell as Komakura turned and started bellowing orders to the other Soul Reapers.

His mind worked frantically. Seven-Nine-Six was not near any significant strategic targets, though the Rukon District bordering the area was mildly populous. Another attempt at deceit for Unohana to insert covert agents? No, didn't feel like it.

Another surgical, exploratory strike like the one from a week ago? Perhaps, but nothing to go on, in any case.

Full invasion? No, couldn't be. The hilly, weed-choked landscape would hinder Arrancar deployment while simultaneously giving the Soul Reapers defensible positions.

Ugh, what was he doing? While he was here pondering Unohana's motives and goals, Captain Komamura and the others were putting themselves in danger, and Rangiku was literally right in their faces.

He had to take the field. Besides assisting his men, he would be able to better ascertain Unohana's objectives when he was able to observer first-hand.

He grabbed _Hyorinmaru_ and rushed out of his office.


	23. Chapter 17: Chaos

**_DOWNFALL_**

By

Greg Wong

* * *

**Chapter 17: Chaos**

* * *

Sosuke sighed under his breath. He turned to the Steal Force courier.

"Inform Captain Hitsugaya that I have received the message and will immediately deploy forces to assist in tactical coordination and Garganta suppression."

The Reversal Counter Force agent nodded and departed.

He turned to the side. Momo was already up and had _Tobiume_ strapped to her waist.

That wouldn't do.

"Momo, I'll need you to remain here."

He saw the girl's mouth open slightly, the close. Hmm. The lieutenant clearly wasn't satisfied with the order, but didn't want to argue about it. Momo just wasn't the argumentative type.

Then again...

"Sir," Momo said with just the tiniest touch of iron in her voice, "I was given a clean bill of health by Lieutenant Kotetsu yesterday. I am ready to resume all duties befitting a Thirteen Court Guard Squads lieutenant, _including_ combat duty. Captain, I am the second-strongest Soul Reaper in this squad. If this is an Arrancar incursion that Tosh—that Captain Hitsugaya suspects, you'll need me."

He stared into the eyes of his lieutenant. Despite the force in Momo's words, he knew the lieutenant would not go against his orders. The girl might not be happy with his orders, but she would not speak up twice. Again, it was Momo's nature.

And Momo wasn't incorrect, of course. Momo _was_ cleared for combat duty by the physicians. Momo _was_ the second most powerful in Squad Five. And he _could_ use someone of Momo's skill in a potentially bad situation.

While Momo didn't have a natural talent at _zanjutsu_, she was very dedicated to training and could successfully cross blades with those who, nominally, should be her better in swordplay. Also, the lieutenant was extraordinarily skilled at kido, more than most gave the girl credit for. And, he remembered, Momo was very sharp intellectually. It would be a great asset to have another mind analyzing the battle as it unfolded.

He also remembered the girl as she lay in a pool of her own blood, _Kyoka Suigetsu_ run clean through her. And, just then, he felt a slight twinge in his left leg.

No. That was not going to cloud his judgment. Logic. Logic only.

"I will need you, Lieutenant Hinamori," he said, putting slight emphasis on Momo's rank. "But not on the battlefield. I will be there, as will Captain Hitsugaya, as will many of the other troops from the tactical squads. We will be in the field, gathering data and organizing battle movements.

"I am going to need you _here_," he continued. "We will be feeding you data in real time, which you will have to interpret into a usable form to pass back to us. I can't keep track of a battle, and neither can Captain Hitsugaya. We'll need someone to piece together information, draw conclusions that I wouldn't see with my immersion in the battle. That will have to be you."

The lieutenant suddenly looked unsure, and not without reason. This would be a very sensitive, very important duty for a young Soul Reaper, and it was only natural that Momo would feel... skittish about it.

But he trusted this girl.

"Understood, Lieutenant Hinamori?"

Momo took a deep breath, let it out, and then looked him squarely in the eyes. He could still see apprehension in the girls' eyes, but he also saw determination... and, almost, plans that were running through Momo's brain.

"Yes, Captain. I'll assemble the analysis teams and have them prep for real time monitoring and tactical analysis. Once you have reached the battlefield, establish a connection to me and we'll get to work."

"Thank you, Momo. We'll be counting on you."

"Yes, sir. Er... stay safe. And tell Tosh—er, Captain Hitsugaya—too."

He nodded. "I'll do that."

The lieutenant gave a respectful bow before hurrying off to gather the intelligence teams. He followed suit, leaving his office to meet with his field teams and prep them for combat. His lieutenant had everything else under control.

He grimaced. He hated keeping things from Momo.

If someone were to examine the schedule for zone Seven Ninety-Six, they'd notice it was one of the dozen or so areas that had he personally drawn up. Any investigation would conclude it was just an unfortunate mistake on his part. He might be reprimanded, perhaps, but nothing more.

Truth be told, he'd purposely overlooked the discrepancy in the patrol timetable. He'd known that Ise and Unohana would have picked up on the vulnerability and would seek to exploit it, like it appeared they were doing now. He also had a good guess as to why they would attack.

Weeks before, when Captain Kurotsuchi had showcased a working prototype of the reishi-dampening devices to the assembled captains, he'd requested that the machines _not_ be fielded unless there was a decisive, large-scale battle. There would be little to no gain if the devices were deployed against a small raiding party, like the one that had struck simultaneously with the kidnapping of Orihime Inoue. With such a low commitment to the battlefield, the Arrancar would be able to disengage and slip away before the devices could have their full debilitating effect... and Las Noches would know that the machines were battlefield ready. Yes, true, the spy Laiggs had managed to slip them some information, but the blueprints had been vague and of unfinished devices. Unohana would know that the devices were being worked on, but that would have been it. No idea on capabilities, or parameters, or limitations.

In the end Gin and Kaname had also backed his request, as had Hitsugaya, Soifon, and Kuchiki. The Head Captain had overruled them and ordered Kurotsuchi to deploy the devices next time the Arrancar made a significant move.

It wasn't necessarily a thoughtless move, to be honest. It was incredibly important for the Thirteen Court Guard Squads to know if the machines would function as described before a significant engagement. Also, depending on the Arrancar reaction, it could act as a deterrent.

But, damn it all, Yamamoto had it all _wrong_, and it started out with the Head Captain's assumptions. The Squad One captain believed the Hueco Mundo forces to be nothing more than a pack of dogs, whipped into line by the force of will of Unohana and the other traitors. That if they were dealt a sound enough defeat, their resolve would crumble and the war would be over. That Arrancar would not learn, would not react, would not devise counters to whatever strategies the Seireitei devised.

He quite emphatically disagreed.

Unohana was not raising an army of fools, if the spy Laiggs was any indication. Intelligence gathered in the field and information gleaned from the captive Arrancar—he was sure Laiggs didn't know how much information she was giving up by answering his seemingly tangential questions—all pointed to a force that was more like the Thirteen Court Guard Squads than it was to any previously encountered pack of Hollows.

Thus, contingencies. He could not directly oppose Yamamoto's orders, since that would be a one-way ticket to getting relieved of his command. No, he had to do this quietly, carefully. He had to take what was given to him to try to prevent the Soul Society from being turned into a charnel house.

There would be no way to prevent their resident mad doctor from deploying the devices. Yamamoto's hardheadedness and Kurotsuchi's bankai-level ego precluded that. What he could do was make sure the machines were deployed at a time and place where, hopefully, some significant damage could be dealt to Las Noches.

Unohana would have recognized the danger the machines presented, and would not make a serious assault until an appropriate counter was crafted. Thus, it followed that Unohana would draw out the machines, probably by having an Espada enter and make loud noises. From there, probably have some hidden intelligence detachment analyze the devices.

The difficulty that this presented was that, when you thought about it, the Arrancar could attack virtually anywhere, via Garganta, and at any time. So how could be make Unohana dance to _his_ tune? Cook some books. Or timetables. Make a target so appealing the traitorous captains wouldn't be able to pass it up.

So he had.

He wasn't going to lie to himself. Soul Reapers were going to die if this really was the push Unohana was trying to make. He'd have to go to bed knowing that, knowing that his actions caused those deaths.

But it was the best he could do.

Damn it.

* * *

Isane frowned as the hell butterfly completed its message. A possible attack? All the way in the outskirts? Eh. It was a discovery by Captain Hitsugaya, and it was endorsed by Captain Aizen and Head Captain Yamamoto, so she had better act.

"Third Seat Iemura!" she called.

A few heartbeats later her office door—yes, _her_ office; she was done thinking of it as Unohana's—slid open, revealing the officer. "Lieutenant?"

"Have Relief Teams Ten to Fourteen summoned and outfitted for field duty. One to Five will remain here and act as crash teams should the need arise. Er... Six to Nine will remain on standby with general gear, ready to move to the field or to the medical facility as events dictate."

"_All_ the teams active, Isane?" she heard the third seat ask, puzzled.

"Captain Hitsugaya believes that an Arrancar attack is in progress."

"Well, damn" the man muttered. "Should I lead the teams in the field?"

"No, I need you to stay here, Yasochika. I'll be leading the field groups."

She saw the third seat frown behind his sunglasses. "It's going to be dangerous out there."

Why was her throat dry all of a sudden? "I know that. And I know I'm not a combat specialist, but I'm the most powerful Soul Reaper in Squad Four. In a pinch I can defend the teams for a bit if they have to withdraw."

And, besides, if _she_, the lieutenant of the healing division, had to physically defend her people, that meant the combat squads had been defeated and they were as good as dead already. Better not mention that line of thought to Yasochika, though.

"All right, Isane. It's your call. But make sure to take care of yourself."

"I'll do my best," she said, smiling slightly. The third seat bowed and left the room. She could just barely hear Yasochika yelling out orders, efficiently getting the medical facility ready for causalities.

She swallowed. Dry again.

She grabbed _Itegumo_ and thrust it through her sash as she headed for the exit. Outside, several of the Relief Teams were assembled. Most of them looked confused. Hanataro, being Hanataro, looked nervous and confused.

"Captain Hitsugaya believes that an Arrancar attack force has made its way into the Soul Society and will begin attacking at any moment."

Gasps and chatter from the others. She held up a hand, and they quieted down.

"We will be deploying out into Eightieth Western Rukongai District," she said to the assembled Soul Reapers. "When we get there, we'll secure some vantage points and await further developments. Should we be needed, we'll advance to the closest safe area and begin tending to the wounded. I will be in direct command of the relief teams. If you are unable to reach me, Sixth Seat Yamada will be my second-in-command."

She gave them a few moments to digest that. All right.

"Let's go," she said, gathering energy for a flash-step.

* * *

The Seireitei had exploded into motion as the various squads leapt to their assigned duties.

Sajin Komamura, already en route to Area Seven-Ninety-Six, was to be joined by Captain Tosen's Squad Nine, along with a Squad Eight detachment temporarily led by Third Seats Sentaro Kotsubaki and Kiyone Kotetsu.

Kaien Shiba was stationed next to Kenpachi Zaraki, just outside of the Western Eightieth. The lieutenant would have much preferred to have switched places with his third seats, but Yamamoto's orders had been clear... and firm. He had a feeling that the Head Captain considered the Third Seats more expendable than himself.

That did not sit particularly well with Kaien.

Byakuya was stationed to the south, and Gin to the north. Like Squad Eleven, they had orders not to attack until further evaluation of the threat. Isane and Squad four would be joining them distributed among the forward groups and ready to provide medical assistance.

Soifon, her squad, and the Stealth Force was to deploy far forward, but not in a combat role. They were there to designate locations for Mayuri Kurotsuchi and Twelfth Squad to field their reishi-dampeners. Should the need arise, however, Soifon and her mobile forces were to act as a rear guard if the fight went badly.

Toshiro Hitsugaya and Sosuke Aizen were advancing to Area Seven-Nine-Six to pinpoint the point of entry. Once on site, they would coordinate the battle squads and call up reinforcements from the waiting Third, Sixth, Eleventh, and Thirteenth Squads.

In the meanwhile, the Arrancar forces, unaware of the fact their covert attack had been found out, continued to ready for their actual attack.

Nanao Ise, troubled and distracted with the death of Sachi Takeuchi, had neglected to release her zanpakuto. _Shokomaru_'s shikai would have detected the incoming Soul Reapers and given them a chance to withdraw in face of a Soul Society force that was far, far stronger than they were expecting. On the other hand, the force Jushiro Ukitake was leading was a far cry larger than the simple scouting force expected by Sosuke.

Sent off ahead of the main group, Aaroniero Arruruerie, Mila-Rose, a half dozen Numerò-level Arrancar, and a score of Exquias had slipped into the Rukon and occupied two of the larger residences after slaughtering the inhabitants. That was strictly against Unohana's decrees, but the Sexto Espada reasoned that what Unohana did not know wouldn't hurt her. Or him.

In the meanwhile, Renji and Rukia were interrupted from their dinner and were rushing to their deployment areas.

* * *

"Bring the horizon to me, _Shokomaru_," Nanao whispered. Her zanpakuto split apart into its shikai. Moving her hands, she manipulated the viewing screens. Good. Nothing out of the ordinary. I looked like the... the late seventh seat was the only one to have seen them.

She flipped a screen to see how her intelligence agents were doing. Good. Almost had everything assembled. The equipment was very precise, yet still rugged enough to take some knocks in a battlefield environment. The only problem was that it took a while to calibrate and assemble. Well, no matter. They had all the time in the—

What.

She magnified the image and focused on a patch of grass a few hundred meters out from the Arrancar group. Nothing. She could have sworn that she'd seen—

Movement. There had definitely been movement just then. She brought more of her shikai screens to bear, viewing the area from multiple angles. She frowned.

A Stealth Force troop belly down in the grass was slowly crawling backwards. The man's care towards stealth meant that he had detected the Las Noches forces, and was exfiltrating the area so as to not draw attention to himself. A few more moments and the man would be far enough that the Arrancar would have no hope of running him down if he flash-stepped away.

She grit her teeth. She'd killed her first Soul Reaper today. The second should be easier.

She looked up. There, a screen with a view of the back of the Steal Force agent's head. She leveled her palm at it and drew up her spiritual energy.

"Hado thirty-three, _Sokatsui_!" she cried, and released the spell.

"Nanao, what—" she heard Ukitake begin to say. Ignore it. Had to concentrate, make it lethal.

The hado technique roared into the screen. She shifted her gaze back to the main window, just as the other Soul Reaper stood, preparing to flash-step away.

A wave of blue fire appeared from out of thin air and crashed into the man's back, sending the Stealth Force trooper tumbling head over heels.

Had to make sure. She hastily rearranged her screens, and zoomed in on her target. The upper half of the other Soul Reaper's body was a scorched mess, and the misshapen look of the man's head told her she had shattered bone and pummeled brain matter into jelly. Dead.

Okay, no time to dwell on it. Time for that later. Right now, had to think. Think.

"Scout?" Ukitake said to her.

"Looked like it," she replied. "Something's strange, though..."

First of all, what was a Stealth Force member doing all the way out here? Intelligence indicated that the Stealth Force lurked around the Rukon, charged with exposing and neutralizing Arrancar spies. Furthermore, ever since the Arrancar spies proved themselves to be quite capable in a fight—more so than the average Soul Reaper, it looked like Stealth Force agents were always deployed in teams of three or more.

So either she was missing the man's teammate—unlikely, since she had carefully pored over the area—or...

Oh, no.

"Captain!" she hissed.

"Yes?"

"We should start preparing for battle. They know we're here."

"Explain."

"The only reason a Stealth Force agent would be by himself would be as an advance skirmisher for a larger contingent. And, most likely, they wouldn't be far behind him, either."

Which meant there was a strong possibility that the force the man had been scouting for had seen her kido spell blast out of nowhere and into the man's body. Anyone who had known her would recognize that facet of _Shokomaru_'s shikai. She'd remote bombarded enough Hollows that it was easily recognizable.

"I see," she heard Ukitake say. "Nanao, fall back and make sure the analysis devices are functioning properly. If the Soul Society is going to deploy their reishi-dampeners, it's going to be here."

"Yes, sir. I can—"

"Specialist Ise!" someone shouted. She turned. One of the intelligence Arrancar

"Yes?"

"Our westernmost spy drones just went offline. All of them."

A dozen rugged machines like the rolling drones didn't just malfunction like that, not simultaneously.

Uh oh.

* * *

Yachiru readjusted her position on Kenny's shoulder. Humph. The Head Captain had ordered them to stay here, and it was really boring. Judging by how Kenny's aura was throbbing blue and red, she could tell her captain was getting restless.

Well, yeah! Ordering them out here, and then telling them not to do anything. Silly.

But she did understand, kind of. Captain Komamura and Captain Tosen had first crack at the Hollows, and Kenny would move in if help was needed. Squad Eleven might not even get a chance, since Captain Komamura and Captain Tosen were pretty tough and it was just a bunch of egghead Arrancar types or something. Captain Aizen hadn't explained it very well.

There was a crackling in the air, and a _Tenteikura_ spell opened up next to Kenny. Inside the window was the face of Captain Aizen. Huh?

"Captain Zaraki."

"Yeah, what is it, Aizen?" she heard Kenny answer.

"Soifon says her advance forces detected kido usage in the area."

Kenny didn't say anything for a moment. Then, "At least one of them is there, eh?"

Kenny might not look it, but her captain could put two and two together pretty well. Arrancar didn't do kido, so if there were spells being thrown around, it meant a Soul Reaper.

"Precisely. Furthermore, the kido behaved in a way that it appeared to be augmented by Ise's shikai ability."

Oh? Nanao was there.

"And?" Kenny asked.

"The Head Captain wants Squad Eleven, Six, and Three to advance. Priority is the elimination of any of the rogue Soul Reapers."

She saw Kenny smile slightly. "Ah. Fun times. Zaraki out." Kenny snapped his fingers, and the kido dissolved.

"So, let's go!" she said cheerfully. She would probably just hang around on Kenny's shoulder for the time being. If things got interesting she might hop off and do her own thing while Kenny had fun.

"You're staying here, Yachiru," she heard her captain say.

"Oh, right, and then when Baldy—" Hey, wait a second! "What!"

"You stay here, with Lieutenant Shiba."

"But how come?"

"You know what gut feelings are?" Kenny said cryptically. Ooh. Kenny never spoke cryptically.

"Assuming you're not talking about that stomach ache after eating that stuff Rangiku cooked, sure."

"I've got a feeling that this will be really messy."

She pouted. "So what? I've been around the messy stuff all the time. Messy is fun!"

"Stay here, Yachiru."

"But—"

"Stay here, Lieutenant Kusajishi," Kenny said.

She blinked. Kenny _never_ called her Lieutenant Kusajishi. It was always either "Yachiru" or "kid". And it was true Kenny never had a problem with her tagging along, either on her captain's shoulder or a couple of meters away from the sword-swinging.

Hey, wait a second.

"You think Unohana's going to be there, huh?" she asked.

Her captain didn't say anything, but when she looked at Kenny's spiritual energy she could tell that's exactly what Kenny thought. Unohana.

And it got pretty... murky, too. Normally she could easily read Kenny's mood and stuff. But now it was all jumbled up and stuff. Like Kenny was confused, which was weird in itself, and stuff. Kenny was _never_ confused. The guy either understood something, or didn't. And if Kenny didn't understand something, he didn't care about not understanding it and went on with life. So it was major alarm bells when Kenny was like this.

Plus Kenny Wasn't Going To Take Her Along. That was totally uncalled for.

"Kenny, come on now!" she wheedled. "A lieutenant has to watch out for her captain and stuff."

There was a brief silence. "Stay here with a team, Yachiru."

The tone in Kenny's voice told her that there would be no change in opinion. She was going to have to stay here. Again she saw Kenny's spiritual aura throb and shift colors in that unusual way again.

"Okay, fine," she said quietly.

"Thank you." Kenny turned to look past her and raised his voice. "Team five stays here with the Lieutenant. Everyone else, on me!"

And then Kenny flash-stepped away. Whoa. Flash-stepping was also something that was real unusual for her captain. Like, it never happened. She heard the sound of rushing air, and she caught of the rest of Squad Eleven following Kenny towards the east.

She sighed and sat down on the ground. She felt someone walk up behind her.

"I'm sure he has his reasons, Yachiru," she heard Kaien say.

"Yeah, yeah," she said glumly. Kaien was a pretty nice guy, but she didn't feel like talking right now.

She looked towards the east, wrinkling her nose. Kenny would be all by himself, and have all the action, and get to act all weird without her.

Silly Kenny.

* * *

"They're here!" Nanao heard one of the scouts shout.

"Cirucci, establish a defensive perimeter to the south, about a hundred meters out. Gantenbainne, you and your people will hold north. Dondochakka, hold to the west, but stick close to Cirucci in case she requires assistance."

She saw the Sèptima Espada scowl slightly before moving off to the designated location. Cirucci probably didn't like the idea of requiring assistance from a Fracciòn.

She turned behind her, looking past her shikai's panels. "Szayel Aporro, progress?"

"These things cannot be rushed, Specialist," the Fracciòn replied in a measured, haughty tone that was on the verge of being disrespectful. "They will be ready in a few moments."

She just nodded. Sometimes she wondered how Nnoitra, who didn't seem the patient sort at all, put up with Szayel Aporro Granz.

Ugh, distracted again. She had to remain focused, or this whole mission would end in failure. And she, dead.

She looked back to her _Shokomaru_'s screens. One of them showed several figures moving in rapid burst of flash-step. It was a trick used by more experienced Soul Reapers, as a series of shorter movements were significantly less strenuous than fewer, longer flash-steps.

She focused on the lead figure. Captain Komamura. The captain's massive build was distinctive. And... hmm. It was harder to see, but she swore she could see a figure with Captain Tosen's dreadlocks next to the Squad Seven captain.

"Captain Komamura and Captain Tosen are approaching with approximately... seventy Soul Reapers from the northwest," she said calmly to Ukitake. "I'll bombard them and attempt to disrupt their formation."

"No, don't," the older Soul Reaper said. "You'll need to conserve your strength when the dampeners are deployed."

She nodded. There was merit in that. "Very well."

Ukitake nodded, before turning. "Gantenbainne, I will move forward to engage the captains. Assist me. If I am unable to drive them off immediately, we will fall back to Cirucci's location. Do not enter your Resurreciòn form. We have no idea what will happen if the dampeners are deployed while you are in that state."

"Yes, Lord Ukitake," she heard the Sexto Espada reply. "I will follow."

"Thank you." The older Soul Reaper turned to her. "Nanao, stay back here in the rear and try to keep a low profile. I have no doubt that their primary orders will be to kill you and I. If I keep their attention on me, you'll have plenty of opportunity to gather your data."

She started to protest... but no. Ukitake was right. The man was a far better fighter than she was, and she _did _have an important duty to attend to. Plus, even if she was not to directly participate in battle, _Shokomaru_ could provide some invaluable support, even if it was only data.

Ukitake had drawn his zanpakuto.

"All waves, rise now and become my shield; lightning, strike now and become my blade! _Sogyo no Kotowari_!"

There was a flash of light, and Ukitake's blade and transformed to its dual-bladed, linked shikai form. The former captain nodded to her before flash-stepping towards Captain Komamura. There was a cacophony of static, and Gantenbainne and his troops were on the move as well.

She turned back to Szayel Apporo. Wait, scratch that. Didn't feel like talking to that Hollow right now.

She focused _Shokomaru_ in on the equipment. Hmm. Another couple of minutes away from activation, and no sign of the dampeners or other immediate dangers. So far, so good.

* * *

"Well, that's no good," Gin muttered to himself as he saw a gargantuan, disembodied, armored arm appear in the sky before piledriving into the earth. Captain Komamura was leading off with a bang, that sly fox. Or wolf. He could never get it straight.

He looked down, from where he was standing in the sky. Below him at ground level Zaraki and the merry band of maniacs also known was Squad Eleven were rapidly closing. He noticed that Captain Kuchiki, who by rights should be in front by virtue of being faster, was hanging back and advancing more slowly. Hmm. Kuchiki probably figured that between the mayhem Zaraki and Komamura would cause it would be better not to be caught in the middle of it. Might mess up that really nice hair the Squad Six captain had.

Hmm. A wonder what conditioner the nobleman used. Must be a really expensive brand.

"Shouldn't we be advancing as well, Captain?" he heard Izuru ask him.

"In good time, Izuru," he replied jovially. "I just want some... tactical reassurance from—"

He felt an approaching, familiar spiritual presence. Then he felt the light breeze that accompanied a skilled flash-step.

"Oh my. Speak of the devil. Well, not the _devil_ per se, since that would imply Captain Aizen is an egotistical, backstabbing psychopath, which he is most certainly not."

"Why, thank you, Captain Ichimaru," he heard Captain Aizen muse from behind. "Though it did almost sound like you were... making fun of me."

He turned around and flapped his hands. "Oh of course not. I would never make fun of you, of all people." And he was actually being sincere about that. He did owe Captain Aizen quite a bit. "Kaname, perhaps. And on occasion Captain Zaraki." He dropped his voice to a stage whisper. "But only if he can't hear me."

He heard Aizen snort. "Of course. Status?"

Business, business, business. "I haven't gotten much data since the moment of engagement, but there's apparently a significant Arrancar build up in that area," he said pointing. As if on cue, a massive armored leg materialized and stomped on the ground. Good timing! "Captain Komamura and Kaname are already in contact, and Captains Zaraki and Kuchiki are about five minutes away from joining in. Look like they'll try a flanking attack."

He saw the Squad Five captain nod. "I see. The four of them should be more than enough to drive them off, hopefully before Captain Kurotsuchi gets here with the dampeners."

Ah. He remembered Captain Aizen discussing that with them during one of the captain's meetings. And he completely concurred with the reasoning behind it.

"Hopefully," he agreed.

He heard a tinkling. Ah? Hell butterfly. He let the little guy—or girl; you could never tell with these things—alight on his finger.

It was a message from one of the Squad Seven troopers. Hmm.

"Gin?"

"Ah, yes. Captain Komamura reports that Ukitake has been sighted as well."

The Squad Five captain had suddenly taken on a thoughtful look. He, of course, knew how close Aizen had been to Kyoraku and Ukitake. Must be a shock. Then again, the bespectacled captain was very professional.

"Well, this changes things." Aizen turned to him. "Gin, move your squads forward as close as possible, but try not to get heavily engaged. Focus on eliminating Ukitake and Ise if the opportunity presents itself."

He noted that the order was given without any trace of emotion whatsoever. Kind of scary, when you stopped to think about it.

"I'll do my best, but I can promise nothing." he replied. "Ukitake is much more skilled than I am, and only if he's very distracted could I even hope to score a hit. And, besides, once he knows I'm trying to snipe him, he'll probably gather his people and turn tail into the Garganta."

"Leave that detail to Captain Hitsugaya and myself."

Oh? "Okaydokes, if you say so."

Aizen nodded. "See you there." And then the Squad Five captain was gone.

Well, time for work. He turned to Izuru. "Take some teams and move in behind the embattled Squads. Reinforce them if they're needed. If you encounter Ukitake or Ise, record their positions and immediately report to me. Don't try to take them yourself."

"Yes, Captain." Izuru gave a slight bow and turned to look over his shoulder. "My teams, let's move!"

And then Izuru was gone. He watched the detachment move forward to their position. Off in the distance, a giant arm wielding a blade swung through the sky. All right, all right, he was going. Goodness.

He drew _Shinso_ from its sheath. Time to get busy.

* * *

Lilynette adjusted her position as she and Starrk watched the screen. Pretty much all the big names were crammed into the command room, watching the progress of Specialist Ise's operation.

_Well_,_ you_'_re not a big name_,_ at least not yet_.

You'll also be doing the laundry! Heaps and heaps of laundry!

She heard a mental sigh from Starrk. Humph. Served him right for making fun of her. She stealthily turned her head towards her Espada and stuck her tongue out at him.

Starrk just grumbled. Tee hee.

She turned her attention back towards the massive screens that took up one wall in the command room. The images were being beamed back in real time from the Soul Society. As she watched, Gantenbainne and Lord Ukitake tangled with Captain Kaname Tosen and the big doggy guy. Er... Captain Komamura, was it? Something like that.

Giant arms and legs kept appearing all over the place. Hmm. If she remember right, that was the shikai of Captain Komamura, and it packed some real punch. Luckily, Lord Ukitake was fast enough to dodge most of the attacks, and the Soul Reaper was forced to parry, _Sogyo no Kotowari_'s shikai allowed Lord Ukitake to absorb and reflect the kinetic energy. Gantenbainne was doing okay against Captain Tosen, but unless the Sexto Espada released he might have a problem against the Soul Reaper.

Hey, come to think of it, none of the Arrancar in view had entered their Resurreciòn forms. Hmm. Maybe it was because of the dampener things that Specialist Ise was so concerned about.

_Someone_'_s been doing their homework_.

And my hair. You'll do be doing my hair too!

_Yech_.

Wrinkling her nose, she concentrated on the battle. She wasn't smart like Ise, or Cirucci, or Syazel Aporro, or Lady Unohana, but she knew enough that she understood that the battle wasn't going well for Hueco Mundo.

Just now, she saw another Soul Reaper captain hit Cirucci's unit head one. Hmm. Big guy, spiky hair, with an eyepatch. Captain Zaraki. She saw Circucci's zanpakuto glance off the Squad Eleven captain, not doing more than a scratch. Luckily, Circurri was fast enough to stay out of reach of Zaraki. Of course, the Soul Reaper moved a _lot_ faster than his physique suggested, so Circucci had to stay on her toes.

And then something flashed bright white on the screen.

* * *

Facing both Captain Komamura's and Lieutenant Iba's shikai, Ukitake had to put his utmost concentration on the threat in front of him. Even worse for the renegade captain, Shuhei Hisagi, on orders from his captain, also released _Kazeshini_ and moved to assist the Squad Seven officers.

It was only by a stroke of luck that Ukitake caught a glimpse of reflected light before what appeared to be a bar of solid light speared in towards him. Dodging just in time, _Kamishini no Yari_, Gin Ichimaru's bankai, just barely missed. The enormously long blade withdrew... only to force Ukitake to shift again as it came back blindingly fast. Surrounded by a captain and two lieutenants, he was not able to close the distance to Ichimaru and cross blades with the Squad Three captain.

Knowing that the odd were against him—Captains Komamura, Tosen, Zaraki, and Kuchiki were now engaged, plus Lieutenants Iba and Hisagi—Ukitake made the order to retreat. They were going to be pushed back before the anti-Arrancar dampeners could be deployed, and the sensitive equipment was in danger. Especially dangerous was Ichimaru, as the Squad Three Captain could easily shift aim and snipe the devices and the intelligence personnel manning them.

However, unknown to the traitorous Soul Reaper, Captain Aizen and Captain Hitsugaya had moved _around_ the majority of the fighting, stealthily and speedily making their ways towards the Arrancar retreat point—the Garganta. The tactical squads were primarily tasked with coordinating the other squads in pitched battle. They were also, however, ordered to seal Garganta gates when possible and to eliminate targets of opportunity.

Moving within three hundred yards of the Garganta, Hitsugaya and Aizen raised their hands towards the gateway and uttered a long, complex incantation while gathering their spiritual energy. Then, releasing the reishi, the two captains threw powerful, white-hot strokes of lightning at the Garganta.

The mouth-like gate reacted immediately, the tooth-like protrusions along the edges of the gate grinding together in apparent agony. Then, with a sound that sounded like breaking bones, the Garganta imploded. The disruption kido also generated a kind of static in the area, preventing another Garganta from being formed within a half-kilometer radius.

The Arrancar forces were now trapped in the Seireitei.

* * *

Wait, huh?

Lilynette's eyes widened as the screen suddenly froze.

"Report!" she heard Lady Unohana bark.

One of the intelligence Arrancar that was managing the equipment stood up.

"Ma'am! Some kind of Soul Reaper spell just imploded the Garganta. All downstream data links have been severed, and we are unable to reestablish a connection."

"Can you open another Garganta nearby?"

"I... no, Lady Unohana," the technician answered. "Something is preventing a Garganta from being opened up in the immediate area as well. At best, we'll have to open another gate several kilometer from the last."

Lady Unohana didn't say anything to that. Instead, the Soul Reaper turned to look at the main screen. Captain Zaraki's scary-looking mug was frozen on it.

So... guess we're up?

_Looks like it_.

She saw Lord Kyoraku step forward. "Unohana. Starrk, Nelliel, Dordonii, Tia, Nnoitra, and I can lead a relief force into the Soul Society to extract our forces."

Lady Unohana, though, was still staring at the screen. She could almost hear the gears grinding in the female Soul Reaper's head. And, for the teeniest, tiniest moment, she could sense some distraction.

Weakness/flaw/fault/attack.

Oh, gosh, shut up. Stupid voices.

By the time she was done telling her suppressed multiple personalities—well, that's what they kind of were, weren't they?—to be quiet, Lady Unohana had turned back to face them.

"Shunsui, Nelliel, Nnoitra, Starrk."

"Yes?" she heard the named people say.

"You will remain here and secure Las Noches."

Wait, what? Lady Unohana didn't want them to rescue Lord Ukitake and the others? And "secure" Las Noches? From what?

Immediately, Lord Kyoraku cut in. "But what about Jushiro, and Nanao, and the others. We're not going to abandon—"

"I have no intention of abandoning anyone," Lady Unohana answered in short, clipped tones. Ooh. Even more weird. "I will go myself."

Pretty much everyone in the room stopped moving and stared. Yep, including her.

_Well_,_ this is a bit odd_.

You think?

"Lady Unohana, you can't go off and risk yourself like this!" she heard Nelliel protest. "We can do this job in your stead. It's our duty."

"Your duty is to follow my _orders_, Nelliel Tu Odelschwank," Unohana said in a voice that said that the next person to object was going to get smacked. Yow. "Dordonii, Tia, Luppi, Wonderweiss: you will accompany me. Gather what Numeròs and Calaveras you can and meet me by the new Garganta gate in five minutes. Go!"

The three Espada and Wonderweiss left. Wonderweiss. Why was Wonderweiss going?

_Maybe Lady Unohana finally trusts him_?

Maybe. But still. We're more powerful than he is, aren't we?

_When he was a fully masked Vasto Lorde_,_ probably_. _As an artificial Arrancar_, _I honestly can_'_t say how strong he is_.

Oh blah, then.

Lady Unohana was heading towards the exit, tightening the strap that held her sheathed zanpakuto to her back. Lady Unohana turned to nod at them, then departed.

Lord Kyoraku made an exasperated noise. "Sometimes that lady's orders drive me nuts."

"She must have her reasons, Lord Kyoraku," she heard Nelliel say. "We have to trust her." Pause. "But I do have to agree with the sentiment."

"I know she does, and I know we do. But dammit." Lord Kyoraku took a deep breath. "Ugh. In any case, we might as well make ourselves useful." The Soul Reaper turned to her and Starrk. "Starrk, you and Lilynette go to the new Garganta. Assist the technicians as best you can. I want data being streamed again as soon as possible."

"Yes, Lord Kyoraku," Starrk said. She just gave a little bow before following Starrk out of the command room.

A they were walking, she looked up at the taller Hollow. "You know, come to think of it, Lord Kyoraku looks kind of distracted, too."

"He sure does." _I don_'_t like it_.

"Yeah, me neither. Just like everyone else, I respect them and everything... but they _are_ Soul Reapers and all. They can get all weird and emotional and stuff. Not like Hollows.

"Hollows can get weird, too, Lilynette."

"Well, when we do it's usually 'I'm hungry. I'm gonna eat you.' Or maybe 'I don't like the cut of your jib, I'mma beat you up.' Or something."

"Or they can demand that their Espada do their laundry when they take the majority of their shared power."

She frowned. "That's not weird. That's natural."

"Heh. We can hope. I know Lady Unohana would rather have us focused on something silly like that than about eating a Whole."

Well, true, she had to give Starrk than point. Lady Unohana had never really gone out and said it, but she knew the Soul Reaper was trying to change Hueco Mundo. She didn't quite know how to feel about it honestly. Unohana was trying to make them "better" people, but by Whole standards, and to protect the Wholes. It was kind of weird, but she—and Starrk—respected Lady Unohana, so she would see where this led.

In the meanwhile, she could threaten Starrk with chores when control of their collective power shifted to her.

_She is the nuttiest Arrancar I have ever_—

Finish that thought and I'll kick you.

_I_'_d_ _like to see you_—

She kicked Starrk.

* * *

Retsu took a deep breath. Here she went.

She stepped out of the Garganta into the grassy fields of the Soul Society. It had been a while. It was technically her home, but no longer. It was a hostile land to invade.

The Garganta had had to be opened a little under two kilometers south of the original, because of whatever kido spell the Seireitei had cooked up. She had expected Aizen and Hitsugaya to devise a way to counter their Gargantas, which could open virtually anywhere and at any time, but not at such an... inopportune moment.

She knew Nanao would not miss the strategic significance of the Garganta-nullifying kido, and had most likely done an analysis of it after it had sealed the gateway. That data would be invaluable to Las Noches, since they would, theoretically, begin to craft Gargantas resistant or immune to the spell.

Knowing what the reishi dampeners did was very important. The analysis of the kido was critical. The strategic capabilities and mobility would be severely hampered if they could not counter those spells.

More than likely the Thirteen Court Guard Squads knew this, and would be targeting any intelligence data—and personnel—that was within reach. After all, Captain Ichimaru had been attempting to use his incredibly deadly bankai solely to strike down Jushiro. She had faith that the other captain would be able react effectively against Ichimaru's attacks, but if Jushiro was pressured at all sides, it would only take one slip and then...

No, do not dwell on that.

She turned to the Espada and Numeròs that had followed her into the Soul Society.

"Dordonii, lead the others to the west and loop up around the fighting. Do not take action until I reveal myself to the Soul Reapers."

"Yes, _Señora_ Unohana. Who will accompany you?"

"I will be alone," she said.

Dordonii frowned. "_Señora_, we cannot permit you to risk yourself in such a fashion!" the Segundo Espada exclaimed. "It is bad enough that you are here and not _Señor_ Kyoraku, but to go alone, when you know Soul Reapers will drop everything to come after you!"

"I. Will. Go. _Alone_," she said slowly, letting a brief burst of her spiritual pressure wash over the area.

Dordonii still looked dissatisfied with the order, but like any Hollow he would respect her position as a dominant being. There was a cacophony of booming, and the Arrancar departed.

All alone now. She flash-stepped into the sky, hardening reishi beneath her feet to stand in air. Off in the distance, she saw a massive, armored giant materialize from out of nowhere, bearing an equally gigantic sword. Bearing back, the giant—Komamura's _Kokujo Tengen Myoo_—took a mighty swing that shook the ground and threw soil everywhere. Beside the giant, a massive outburst of brilliant golden spiritual energy briefly lit the sky. She knew that energy too well.

Kenpachi's.

Humph.

She drew reishi around herself and prepared to flash-step towards her embattled soldiers.

* * *

It appeared she arrived none too soon. A few hundred meters or so she ceased her flash-steps, instead approaching on the ground and keeping her spiritual pressure as condensed as possible. Some Squad Three and Stealth Force Soul Reapers were patrolling the perimeter of the battlefield.

One of them caught sight of her. Too late. In a blur she was upon him, and with kick she broke the man's neck. The slain Soul Reaper's companions turned to face her in shock. Hesitation. She rushed forward, thrusting a powerful blow into a woman's chest. The blow cracked the victim's sternum and sent bone splinters into the heart. Only after the second person had fallen did the others draw weapons and move to attack her.

Despite her slight frame, she was strong and swift, and with only her hands and skill in _hakuda_ she slew them all.

Retsu looked down at the broken bodies strewn around tall glass and shook her head. What a horrible waste. Damn Yamamoto, and his provincial zealotry. Damn him for forcing her to this.

Striding forward, past the dead Soul Reapers, she felt the dense, powerful energy of Kenpachi.

Kenpachi Zaraki.

Narrowing her eyes, she loosened her zanpakuto's sheath from its position on her back and grasped it in her left hand. She drew _Minazuki_ out... and unleashed a massive portion of her spiritual pressure. Its vivid green hue temporarily drowned out the golden light of Kenpachi's energy before the captain's power came crashing back to grind against hers.

A moment later, with the blur of a flash-step, Kenpachi appeared before her, a dozen paces away. The man's usual battle-happy berserker's rictus was absent.

This was the most serious she had ever seen Kenpachi before.

Without preamble she saw the other Soul Reaper rip the reishi-devouring eye patch from his head and toss it away.

She smiled faintly. "I thought you liked to prolong battles, Kenpachi" she said.

"I'm no fool, Retsu," the Squad Eleven captain replied. "I'm not going to be hampering myself against someone like you."

Even as the captain spoke, she felt Hollow energy flare up. Dordonii and the others had met up with the others and were escorting them out. With all the energy she and Kenpachi were emitting, it would muddle the senses of everyone in a large area. Soul Reapers without visual contact on the Arrancar would be overwhelmed by their spiritual energy and would be unable to detect the additional Arrancar trying to punch a hole out through the surrounding Soul Reapers. On the other hand, her distinctive spiritual pressure would soon draw all the other captains onto her head. She could give them a fair fight, and perhaps take a few of them down, but, eventually, she would be worn down and killed.

She did not have much time. Fifteen minutes, if that, before the other captains were able to disengage from their Arrancar opponents and move against her.

She took _Minazuki_ in both hands and drew herself up into a kendo position, zanpakuto held slightly above her head. Across from her Kenpachi did the same, stance a bit rougher, unpolished, but easily recognizable for what it was.

A tiny portion of her mind that wasn't completely focused on the man in front of her registered other Soul Reapers attempting to move closer, only to be repelled by the sheer volume of their combined spiritual pressure. Only a captain or an exceptional lieutenant could hope to draw close to them without being outright smothered.

She drew in her breath and released it slowly. Simultaneously, she unleashed her full spiritual energy. She felt the Las Noches jacket shred from the violence, leaving her upper body only with the sleeveless Arrancar tunic that just barely held against her power. Kenpachi responded in kind, haori and upper shihakusho ripping away to tatters.

She let her spiritual pressure batter briefly against the captain's... and then she moved.

* * *

Unohana moved with the swiftness of a flash-step, closing the distance and striking a vicious blow at Zaraki. The male Soul Reaper countered the blow smoothly, more smoothly than most would give the man credit for. The renegade captain shifted backwards, only to have Zaraki press the attack with a swift flash-step of his own. Unohana parried the blow to the side, but before she could respond with a counterattack Zaraki had rolled past her. The Squad Eleven captain knew what power Unohana could bring to bear, so he would not let the blade clash against his reishi-sheathed flesh like he customarily did. If it happened, it would be as a last resort.

They sized each other up again. With a gesture and a shout, Unohana threw a powerful hado spell at Kenpachi. As the wall of lighting raced forwards, Zaraki muttered under his breath and raised a hand. The _Enkosen_ shield, backed by the captain's vast spiritual energy, shed the powerful kido attack as if it were water.

Just as with his skill in flash-step, many did not know that Zaraki had respectable skill in kido. Like flash-step, it was not something he had learned on his own, and a man who had grown up relying on himself in the lawless Zaraki district was loathe to rely on others.

After dismissing the spell, the large man again bounded forward, putting his vast spiritual pressure behind the two-handed swing. Unohana also arced her blade forward, and the two energy-backed blades rebounded from each other in a violent flash of gold and emerald. Again, Unohana and Zaraki clashed, blades parrying and striking, seeking an opening.

Mistiming a swing, Zaraki brought himself within Unohana's reach with his sword out of line. However, the female Soul Reaper was recovering from her own swing, and was unable to bring her nodachi fully back into play. Disdaining an attack with her blade, Unohana thrust forward with _Minazuki_'s hilt, striking Zaraki full in the face. The male Soul Reaper staggered from the blow, but was relatively unfazed. He used the momentum to spin himself around and bring his sword around in a grand arc. Funneling his spiritual energy, he sent a shockwave of pure reishi towards Unohana, too fast for the other Soul Reaper to dodge easily. Bolstering her zanpakuto with her spiritual energy, Unohana tried to parry the energy blast away. She was partially successful. Instead of being hit by the full rock-shattering force of the blow, she was only knocked off her feet. Using the momentum from the strike, Unohana rolled back into a crouch before rising to her feet.

Only a minute had passed.

Knowing that time was against her, Retsu Unohana looked down at her blade, recalling in her mind the shape and abilities it possessed.

"Bleed, _Minazuki_," she said quietly.

* * *

**_Author notes updated 6-25-2011_**


	24. Chapter 18: Last Dance

**_DOWNFALL_**

By

Greg Wong

* * *

**Chapter 18: Last Dance**

* * *

"I don't know whether to find it weird, funny, or cute that you keep a spare uniform in that pack of yours," Rukia huffed as she and Renji dashed through the town with flash-steps.

"What? You had a spare one hidden somewhere, too. Rocks and glass houses, much?" Renji grunted back.

Bleh. She'd think of something clever to say, later. Right now, she and Renji had somewhere to be. The hell butterfly Kaien had dispatched to her had contained some disturbing news, and her lieutenant wanted her outside the West Rukon with the rest of the squad.

They cleared the last of the buildings and... oh, there! Kaien and about a third of Squad Thirteen. They all seemed to be just waiting for something.

"Rukia Kuchiki, reporting, sir," she said formally. She could've gotten away with a slightly less uptight greeting, but it was for Renji's benefit, kind off. Ugh. She was going to have to sort all this stuff out when they were finished here. And then she'd have to talk with Kaien about...

Okay, enough of that.

"Formal today, aren't we, Rukia?" Kaien replied, scratching his head. Eh. Of _course_ Kaien wouldn't play along. The best response was no response, so she kept quiet.

"Are there any message forwarded to me from my captain, Kaien?" Renji asked the other lieutenant. "I was off duty, so I wasn't able to reach them before they departed the Seireitei."

She saw Kaien shake his head. "He requests that you stay here with me and my squad." She saw the Squad Thirteen officer gesture off to the east. "Reports are saying that there's a lot of fighting going on around the hills, and we have a lot of heavy hitters going at it with the Arrancar. Last I checked, eight captains were in or around the area."

"What's going to take on eight captains? Eight captains should steamroll just about anything." she heard Renji ask.

"An equal or greater number of those Espada, plus Ukitake and Nanao."

Ukitake? "They're here?" she asked Kaien.

"Just those two, so far," she heard her lieutenant answer. "Nothing on Unohana or Kyoraku. Doubt they would appear though, with the odds stacked like they are."

She noticed Kaien had changed tone while mentioning their former captain. Nothing overt, but she was around Kaien a lot. She could tell.

"They're not just going to leave Ukitake to die," she heard Renji say.

"I know Kyoraku wouldn't stand for that," Kaien replied. "Then again, I don't know what any of them are thinking, so, who knows, I could be wrong."

Off in the distance, she saw Captain Komamura's enormous bankai appear, brandishing its massive blade. A moment later the giant struck at something at ground level, throwing up a massive cloud of soil and dust. She could barely hear the sound of battle in the distance.

"Any idea on how it's going?" she asked Kaien.

The Squad Thirteen lieutenant just shrugged. "Not much. Kiyone and Sentaro managed to disengage when the captain-led squads came in, but they're limited to sending hell butterflies with all the reishi being thrown around. I should be getting an update in..." Kaien squinted, thinking. "In about five more minutes."

She nodded and watched. She couldn't see over that kilometer distance, of course, but she could see the flashes that accompanied kido or Cero blasts. So many. She hoped her brother was okay. Byakuya was powerful, yes, but the Espada were supposed to be the equals of the thirteen captains. Ukitake was also there, and her former captain was known to be one of the most powerful Soul Reapers in the Soul Society.

Ah. No need for that. Hisana could do all the worrying. She had to think about what to do if they were ordered to mobilize.

"Kenny," she heard a voice say from above.

_Kenny_? She started, looking up. Huh? Lieutenant Kusajishi was sitting on the roof of one building, dangling her feet off the edge. Weird. She hadn't even noticed the lieutenant there. Yes, Yachiru was an expert at hiding her spiritual energy, but that stealth was normally mitigated by Yachiru's, ah, energetic loudness.

That aside, why had she short girl said—

Gah. She felt something invisible slap into her, like a blast of air, and she rocked a bit back on her feet. In the vicinity of the battlefield, she saw a roiling pillar of gold energy light the darkening sky. A moment after the lightshow appeared, the air seemed to get... thicker, heavier, like right before a storm blew up. It wasn't stifling, but that was probably because she was a long way off.

That was obviously Captain Zaraki's spiritual pressure.

She blinked. Why was Yachiru here and not out there? She turned to ask.

"Captain Zaraki ordered her to stay here, Rukia," she heard Kaien say quietly, voice pitched low so only she could hear. "She's not too happy about that. Leave her be."

She glanced back up at the small lieutenant. While not exactly gloomy, the girl wasn't anywhere near her raucous, hyperactive self.

Scary.

"Right, Lieutenant," she said, turning back to the distant battle.

"You know, I thought I told you 'Kaien' was fine," Kaien chided.

"You said when we're alone," she said back, quietly. She stole a quick glance at Renji, who hadn't heard—or was ignoring—their conversation. Her friend started to look in her direction. Ah! She looked back towards Kaien.

Her lieutenant blinked several times, slowly, before turning to face towards the west. "Ah. Right. I see. Sorry."

Oh, darn it. She massaged the bridge of her noise. She should _not _ be worrying about... about _this_ right now. There was a battle going on out there, and she had to stay focused on—

_CRASH_!

"_YAH_!"

Her vision went dark. Dust. Couldn't see. Had to do something. Coughing, she focused her energy and quickly recited a mental kido incantation. She pointed her palm towards the sky.

"Hado fifty-eight, _Tenran_!"

Reishi-based wind rushed out, most of it spiraling skywards. The back draft it created, though, cleared a lot of the dirt out of the air.

"Rukia! Renji! Yachiru!" she heard Kaien half-shout, half-cough. "Are you all right?"

"I'm good." she answered. Good, but confused.

"Same," she heard Renji say.

The last lieutenant didn't say anything.

She wiped grit out of here eyes. Geez. What had happened? She turned in the direction she had heard the surprised cry. It had sounded like Lieutenant Kusajishi.

Wait, why was half the roof torn off that building? She stared. Was Yachiru playing some kind of prank? If the other girl was, this was a pretty bad one. Yeah. Even Captain Zaraki would be annoyed by this. And considering the circumstances—

"Rukia! Duck!" she heard Renji bawl.

Instinctively, she dropped into a crouch... and felt something pass over her head, close enough to ruffle her hair. What in the world?

She rolled forward, twisting to face the way she had come. She touched the hilt of _Sode no Shirayuki_. Humph. While she'd manage to blow the majority of the dirt away from them, there was still quite a big swirling over the area. Couldn't get a good view past a couple of meters. She squinted. What was it that had rushed past?

The hair on the back of her head stood on end. Without thinking she drew her sword and brought it in line in front of her.

Just in time! Something came hurtling at her head, but she managed to stop it with her zanpakuto. It was a blade and it—

Her eyes widened. It was one of those skull-headed clone Arrancar she'd seen from the reports!

Without making a sound, the Arrancar leaned into her and she started to strain against its strength. Ugh. No way could she just force it back. Too strong. Outmaneuver it. She shifted her weight lower—this time around, her height was a good thing—and angled her zanpakuto underneath the enemy's blade. Then she shot upward, throwing the clone off balance. It stumbled past her.

With a cry she slashed, striking the Arrancar at the back of its knee. It didn't make a sound of pain, but it obviously couldn't support it weight with such damage. It fell to one knee.

And then Renji decapitated it. She had to throw up her free arm to keep blood from splattering onto her face.

"Oh, this isn't good," she heard Kaien mutter from behind.

The dust had cleared up enough for her to see... uh oh.

There was a series of booming sounds, and nearly a score of clone Arrancar closed in and began to engage the Squad Thirteen strike force stationed in the Rukon. Mixed among the eerily quiet clones were several regular Arrancar who snarled as they tore into the other Soul Reapers.

A skull-head came charging at her and Renji through the dust. Think!

"Renji, step left high!" she called quickly as she met the Arrancar's charge. The clone brought its sword down in and overhead chop... only to be blocked by Renji. She passed on the clone's opposite side, laying open the Hollow's stomach with her zanpakuto. She turned back to face the Arrancar.

Without a sound, an despite having its belly cut open, it forced Renji away and came barreling towards her. She rocked on her feet, then dove under its slash to deliver a chop to the back of its neck. The cloned toppled over and didn't get back. Hah. _Now_ it was dead. She caught motion out of the corner of her eye.

"Kaien!" she cried.

The lieutenant was taking on two clones. Problem was that another clone and a blond Arrancar male were moving in to stick Kaien in the back.

"Renji, get the clone!" she screamed.

She had to be quick. Had to time it right. Had to make it powerful enough.

Dammit, she had to concentrate. She began to recite an incantation in her head, quickly, while gathering her spiritual energy. One shot, otherwise...

"Roar, _Zabimaru_!" she heard Renji shout.

"Hado thirty-two, _Okasen_!"

Renji's shikai took a big chunk out of the clone's abdomen. Her golden hado spell slammed into the blond's head, grinding against its Hierro skin. It didn't penetrate, but, then again, that wasn't what she'd been aiming for. Arrancar were tough. A quick, non-verbalized spell of a lower class like _Okasen_ wouldn't quite cut through its skin.

But it's _impact_ _force_, hitting right where'd she'd been aiming for—top of the head, where it would get the most leverage—would be enough to snap its neck.

The blond Hollow collapsed.

She let out the breath she'd been holding. Perfect shot.

Kaien flashed-stepped to the side, sidestepping one of the clones' blades. Kaien just _slammed_, bodily, into it, and the Hollow went stumbling to the ground. She saw the Squad Thirteen Lieutenant parry the other Arrancar's blade high, upsetting its balance. Kaien stepped forward and rammed a two-handed stab straight through the clone's chest. The first, the one that had been body-checked, was just barely getting back to its feet.

Which meant it was the perfect height for Kaien to knock its head off with an almost lazy-looking blow. She looked around. No one else in sight. The other Soul Reapers had been scattered, and she could hear fighting behind the buildings of the Rukon.

Even as the head rolled and began to dissolve she heard Kaien shouting out orders.

"Began a fighting withdrawal to the first observation point!" Kaien shouted. "Matsuda, get into the air and provide covering fire! Touma, try to establish contact with Lieutenant Kusajishi!" The lieutenant turned to her and Renji. "Rukia, we're moving north. Watch my back. Renji, I think I'll need some help keeping the observation area clear so we can regroup. If you don't mind?"

"Not a problem," she heard Renji reply.

"All right," her lieutenant said. "Let's get moving, Ruk—"

The ground shook briefly, just as she heard a crash that sounded like a wall getting knocked down. She just barely heard Yachiru snarl something.

More crashes.

"Definitely not good," she heard Kaien whisper.

* * *

So, the stupid Arrancar dummies wouldn't even let her mope in peace. _Nooo_, a tall, tanned, female Arrancar with big boobies was trying to clobber her with a broadsword-like zanpakuto. Looked like some of them had managed to go all sneaky-like into the Rukon, and were launching an attack while the captains were doing their thing to the east.

Humph. Fine. Yachiru could take out her anger on Boobycar over here. Had to be careful, though. The Hollow looked to be packing some muscle, and she had a pretty long reach with that blade. But Boobycar didn't look all that fast, so she had that going for, at least.

Of course, people always, _always_, underestimated her strength because of her size. She slid away from another attack, vaulting over a produce cart that had been left by the building she'd been sitting on. With a grunt she kicked the thing at the Arrancar.

She heard Boobycar snarl a curse, and suddenly the cart was cut up into three parts by the Hollow's zanpakuto. Uh ohs. She rolled under a blow that was going to do naughty things to her neck and sped away down the street. She had a bad feeling that Boobycar would get annoyed after she kicked the Hollow's ass and would instead go after easier targets, like the other squad members. Couldn't have that.

So, it was going to be tag until she had the Arrancar far enough away from the others.

And then fun time!

* * *

"Rankle the seas and the skies, _Nejibana_," Kaien growled, willing his sword to transform. His katana lengthened before settling into its familiar trident form. Water gurgled out from the air, pooling around him. With a gesture he sent a small wave crashing down towards a Squad Eleven trooper facing down a pair of clones. The torrent smashed the Arrancar down the street. The Soul Reaper he'd just saved gave him a quick nod of thanks before flash-stepping towards his teammates.

Around him, over the rooftops and around buildings the Arrancar flitted in and out of view, avoiding them. Oh, couldn't have that. He focused energy into a flash-step as a normal Arrancar appeared from a doorway of a ruined building. The Hollow—a not-unattractive female—managed to get a zanpakuto up to intercept the swing of his trident.

The Arrancar had fallen for it. He swept _Nejibana_ in a figure-eight, altering the course of the trident's blade, and instead laid the haft of the polearm across the female's face.

There was some yellow sparking—Hierro armor?—but the Arrancar still staggered from the strike. He had an opening.

He gathered reishi to himself and mentally chanted a swift incantation. "Hado four! _Byakurai_!"

The lightning bolt ripped through the Arrancar's shoulder, and with a hiss of pain the Hollow dropped her sword. But, still, the Hollow had faced him, mouth gaping wide. An orb of reddish energy burst into life... and was extinguished as he tore the Arrancar's throat out with a swing of his released zanpakuto. The Arrancar tumbled, over gurgling.

Another one, this time a clone. It was attempting to intercept a wounded Soul Reaper as she was making her way towards the rendezvous. Damn it. He and Renji were here, trying to keep the Arrancar from flanking them as they regrouped. He couldn't move to help the lone troop. He did that, the Arrancar—still didn't know how many of the damned things were moving around this area of the Rukongai—would capitalize on his absence and pile on. To make things worse, the sun was just about setting, and visibility was horrible. He'd ordered his people to light up the area with some illumination spells, but they couldn't project them far. Too far from their defensive position and the Arrancar would just extinguish them.

There was no easy defensive positions here in a small square that served as a marketplace. The buildings prevented a clear line of sight, and if they attempted to take and fortify a building, Arrancar Balas and Ceros would wreck them. The rickety old wood would do zilch for protection. How could he—

He felt the air around him chill by a few degrees. Ah.

"Dance!" he heard Rukia's voice call out from above, probably on the roof of one of the buildings. "_Sode no Shirayuki_!"

The clone Arrancar hesitated.

"_Tsugi no mai_: _Hakuren_!"

A wave of cold energy enveloped the Hollow, transfixing it in a block of reishi-called ice. A heartbeat later a hado spell crashed down, shattering the ice—and the Arrancar—to pieces. The squad member nodded in Rukia's direction and hustled towards the regrouping squad assault groups.

"Rukia!" he called.

"Here!" he heard the woman shout.

"Try to hold off the eastern section." The buildings had been badly damaged in the area, which gave the squad teams a little more visibility. Rukia's kido and shikai abilities would let her engage them from range. And, if they got close, there was always the "White Moon" freezing ring, anyway.

"Where do you need me?" he heard Renji grunt from the other side of the square.

"Take—Damn!" he barked as he saw a crimson flash out of the corner of his eyes. Cero blast, coming right in at his face. He flung a hand out at the energy attack, and water rose up to block and disperse the attack. He sent a column of water in the direction of the Cero's origin, but the Arrancar that had tried to shoot him had made itself scarce. He turned back to Renji. "Take the opposite end. Once we regroup I'll lead a contingent out through the north, double back, and hit them in the flanks!"

"Sir!" he heard of the troops called out frantically. "Jinrei's starting to bleed out!"

"Get him stabilized!" he ordered quickly. "Secure one of the smaller buildings and get the wounded into them!"

The hairs on the back of his neck stood on end. Instinctively, he dove to the side as something whizzed by.

The blast—had to be Bala, since it had come out so fast—knocked down one of the smaller houses. He blinked. It had _knocked down_ a damned house.

He swung his head behind him. His eyes widened. Oh, _damn_ it.

He recognized the attacker. It was the tall, thin Espada from several weeks ago. Yet, something was different. Something that he couldn't put his finger on.

Suddenly the Hollow blurred and was gone. Great.

"Renji, take command until I get back!" he shouted.

"Right!" there was a pause. "Wait, what?"

"I'm going to get in close with that Espada," he snapped. "If I can't keep track of his position, he'll just blast us to bits where we can't see him!"

He started to flash-step forwards, but something stopped him. Something grabbing his sleeve.

Rukia.

"Kaien, let a couple of the others do it. They can keep track of the Espada without crossing blades with him."

He shook his head. "I'm fast enough that I think I can keep up as he moves, and if he _does_ close into blade range, I can hold my own, at least for a while. I'm the best option, and you know it, Rukia."

He grimaced inwardly at the last part. Hadn't meant to sound that harsh.

He felt Rukia's grip on his arm tighten for a second, then loosen. "You're right," he heard Rukia admit softly. "Just... be careful, okay?"

He smiled widely, and patted Rukia's hand. "Of course. Aren't I always?"

"Promise." It wasn't a question.

His smile faltered for a second. What was he doing, worrying Rukia like this? Sometimes he amazed himself. "I promise. Wait for me, all right? And take care of yourself." He reached out and gently squeezed Rukia's hand.

"Yeah."

Rukia released her grip on his sleeve. He turned towards where he'd seen the Espada a minute ago and flashed-stepped.

Nothing here. He waved an "all clear" to his men, took a breath, and rounded the corner of the building, _Nejibana_ leveled in front of him. He kept his senses sharp, including his ability to sense spiritual pressure. He know how bad these high-class Arrancar were. He'd almost has his head handed to him by one of them not too long ago.

Wait. He'd felt some energy from... that way. He slowly turned, maneuvering between two shacks, and felt a surge of energy again. Damn. What was the Hollow playing at?

He froze when he caught a glimpse of the Arrancar moving next to one of the buildings, about fifteen meters down the street. He jogged forward, trying to keep visual contact. Had to. If the Hollow broke away from him, the Espada would have a few seconds to wreak havoc on the combined teams. Renji was good—the other lieutenant had a bankai, after all—but he had a feeling that it would only slow the Arrancar down.

And Rukia was there.

Ugh, focus, _focus_!

Shifting his stance, he slowly stepped to the building. Something was off. He shifted position again, holding _Nejibana_ almost vertically. It would protect against a—

_CLANG_!

—Horizontal slash! With a grunt he pushed forward, disengaging his trident, and flash-stepped backwards a few meters. Right. He could use the buildings for cover, since he knew the area better than the Arrancar. Keep the Hollow chasing him.

With a cry, he sent a torrent of water at the Arrancar before flash-stepping away again. He made his way through the streets, using some of the shortcuts he remembered whenever he traveled around here. Sure, things had moved around and changed, and he hadn't really hung around this place much, but it was more knowledge that the Arrancar had.

And then a katana was flying at his face again.

"Ah!" he gasped as he parried the blow away, instinctively flicking a countering stab at the Espada. The Hollow danced away from the riposte.

He frowned. Something was familiar about it, somehow. But what?

He steadied himself, shifting _Nejibana_ again. The Espada stood motionless a few meters away, holding a katana.

Then he noticed it, what was bothering him. The Espada's figure seemed feminine, somehow. The clothing seemed the same—though the Arrancar pretty much had all the same garb, at any rate—and the tall mask was identical, but this couldn't be the same Arrancar. Could it? He distinctly remembered the Arrancar from that night as having a masculine, albeit extremely slender, build.

Oh, what the hell. He had bigger things to worry about than what was under the Arrancar's skirt. But, damn it all, something was niggling at him. Something. Something about the shape of that body, and its height, and how it moved, and even the zanpakuto.

The Arrancar's left hand moved. He loosened up, ready to blur away to dodge an incoming energy attack.

But, no, the Arrancar was moving it hand up to its face, to its mask. With a click, the Espada began to lift the mask away. The hell was it doing?

Dark hair cascaded down around the mask as it lift away. And...

His heart, already thumping from adrenaline and tension, started pounding harder. No, this was impossible. _Impossible_.

"Kaien Shiba," the Espada said in a painfully familiar voice that came from achingly familiar lips. "It's been a while."

He opened his mouth to speak, but at first no sound came out, his throat was too dry. He swallowed.

"Mi... Miyako?"

* * *

Renji flicked _Zabimaru_ out towards a lone clone Arrancar that was creeping through one of the buildings, but it saw the incoming attack and blurred away before he could connect.

He shifted position, trying to see where it was going. No. Lost it. Crap. He withdrew behind the wall that had once been part of the house. The wall was still here. The rest of the house was rubble.

This wasn't going to be good, not in the long run. He couldn't send a runner or a hell butterfly to the captains to the east, or else the Arrancar would pounce on them and shred them before they could get clear the Rukon. Rukia had tried establishing a _Tenteikura_ link to the captains, but it was being washed out. There was some downright mean reishi being thrown around, and Rukia simply couldn't do anything about it.

He squinted as he looked towards the larger battle. The darkening sky was lit up by two intensely spheres of light, one gold, one emerald. The sheer power of the spiritual pressure was drowning out Rukia's efforts with _Tenteikura_, and he could feel the heaviness in the air that always accompanied a powerful release.

Long story short, they were isolated by who knew how many Arrancar, and Kaien seemed pretty sure that at least one of them was an Espada.

"Lieutenant Abarai!" he heard one of the Squad Thirteen members call. "It looks like they're withdrawing from the western approach. Uh. I think they're looping round to the east."

"Keep an eye on them, but stay under cover!" he shouted back. Split decision. Was this maneuver serious, or just a feint to get _him_ out of position? The Arrancar forces had been mostly harassing them by his position, in the west. Mostly the Hollows had been trying to lure him and others out of their defensive positions, either to take them out piece by piece, or to leave Rukia's unit with its back exposed. He advanced west, and the Arrancar might get the drop on him. He stayed put, and they might try to pile onto Rukia's area. Rukia could get hurt.

Damn it, how did Captain Kuchiki stay calm all the time?

He took a deep breath. He had to act, now. He pointed to two Squad Eleven troops that were helping him hold the area. "You two, push up—_carefully_—and scout east. Once you get a confident estimate, fall back to Rukia's position and get back word to me. I need to know if that's a serious push or a trick. Do _not_ get engaged. Got it?"

"Yes sir, Lieutenant," the two other Soul Reapers answered, and disappeared with the sound of flash-steps. He nodded. Good to know people were going to follow his orders, at least. Kaien was good at getting people moving. Him, not so much.

And something was definitely up. The loud booms of the Arrancar Sonìdo, which had been all over the place as the Hollows had tried to maneuver into openings in their defenses, had been dying away. What were they up to?

He grimaced. He sent six of Soul Reapers on the western half of the square over to Rukia, and had a runner request that she shift over to him. Rukia came jogging up, dropping to a crouch beside him.

"Yeah?" Rukia asked.

"It's getting quieter, and one of the people on my side saw the Arrancar moving around to you."

The smaller Soul Reaper shook her head. "That can't be it. From what I can tell they've stopped pushing in on my area, too."

He frowned. "The hell does that mean?"

He watched Rukia shrug. "No idea. But if we send some scouts out, we might be able to break past and get word out to the captains."

And that sounded really, really good right now. The buildings surrounding the square were starting to look very... holey, and if this kept up they'd have to vacate, anyway.

"I'll one-up that," he said to Rukia. "We send out a quick scouting group, and if they can confirm that the Arrancar are withdrawing from the area I'll order the rest of them to regroup with the captains back east. I mean, yeah, it's probably not safe going towards _that_." He waved at the bright energy bursts from where the captains were fighting. "But I'm pretty sure we'll be better off. I'll follow last."

Rukia blinked. "Renji, what?"

"Someone's got to get Kaien, since he's playing tag with an Espada. And Yachiru, too, where ever she is. As an added bonus, the Arrancar will probably focus on me and not you guys."

" 'You guys?' So what do I do?"

"Lead the squads out of here."

"You're kidding, right? I'm not leaving you in an area crawling with Arrancar!"

"I don't have many options, Rukia," he ground out. "I meet up with Kaien, the two of us can make enough noise that the other Hollows are going to get to us. With just the two of us, we should have no problem avoiding them while we get out of here, too."

Of course, he didn't say he'd draw the Hollows away so they wouldn't get to Rukia. That would just sound like something out of a bad story.

"Oh, damn it, Renji, how about this? We get the highest ranking seated officers and have _them_ lead the withdrawal. You and I hang back."

Oh, _hell_ no. He opened his mouth to protest.

"You're good in direct, melee-range combat," Rukia said quickly. "But your kido sucks." He snorted. "I'm so-so in zanjutsu, but I can throw some supporting kido around fairly easily, and _Sode no Shirayuki_'s abilities are good for that, too. We can watch each other's backs."

But Rukia could get hurt, or killed. They might slip past him, and kill her. Or she might miss a kido attack, and they would kill her. Or—

Or Rukia was right.

_Everyone_ involved had a better chance of coming out of this alive if he did what Rukia was suggesting. Damn it.

He shook his head. "Fine. We'll need the fifth seat to..."

* * *

"Miyako..." Kaien stammered. "But... how?"

His wife took a step forward, katana still drawn. He took a step back, drawing _Nejibana_ up into a half-hearted defensive position. The hell was going on here. Miyako was dead, killed by a Hollow all those years ago. But here was Miyako, alive, holding her zanpakuto—he recognized the hilt and guard decorations—in front of him.

Miyako stopped for a moment, brow furrowing, before she sheathed her sword. His wife held her hands out, one bare, the other gloved. "Kaien, love, please."

He swallowed. He'd seen Miyako, masked, killing Soul Reapers with bare hands.

But... had it been Miyako? The figure from the raid had had a different physique. Same outfit, same mask, yes, but wasn't there doubt enough? Miyako would take her own life before she turned on Soul Reapers. It had to be his wife. It _had_ to be, beyond all reason.

Had to be.

He lowered his zanpakuto, and willed it back into its sealed form. He didn't sheath it, though.

"How?" he asked hoarsely. He wanted desperately to rush to Miyako, sweep her up in his arms. To forget that night when the Hollow had subverted his wife's body and sent her to kill him. To forget that Rukia had been forced to kill Miyako to save _him_.

His wife nodded at the question, and in the faint moonlight he could see sadness flickering in the woman's eyes. He watched Miyako thrust her zanpakuto into the earth and slowly step towards him. He felt spiritual pressure rolling off his wife, energy of an Arrancar, but he couldn't square that little bit of information with that familiar zanpakuto... or the person who had held it.

He almost jerked _Nejibana_ up... but Miyako was in front of him, a hand gently holding his wrist. The familiarity stopped any further movement, and he just stood there, staring into his wife's deep blue eyes. The hand that wasn't holding his wrist rose up to gently stroke his cheek, and, suddenly, he felt himself leaning forwards.

He...

He hadn't felt his wife's lips on his own in over nineteen years, but he remembered their softness, their eagerness. He felt Miyako press up against him, and he forgot about the war, even for just a moment.

The kiss ended, and Miyako drew back from him, a hand resting gently on his chest. The area where it rested almost seemed to tingle.

"It was you, Kaien," Miyako said softly.

"I don't understand."

"When it possessed my body, it should have killed my mind and spirit as well. It nearly did. When it—" he felt Miyako shudder against him "—was using my body to attack you, it was a close thing. Only after Rukia fatally wounded me was I able to break through."

He was going to say something, but his words caught in his throat. Miyako just moved a little closer and laid her head on his chest.

"The Hollow was an unusually evolved specimen, and even if it was 'killed' it could transport its essence back to Hueco Mundo to recuperate. When Rukia killed me my essence and the Hollow's were thrown back to Hueco Mundo as its body regenerated. Because Rukia killed us so soon after my possession, its body was still weak, still hadn't erased my psyche. So, in Hueco Mundo, we fought for control.

"I nearly lost. It was so terribly strong, I was sure I would have, were it not for you." He felt Miyako shift against him, and he looked down to gaze into his wife's eyes. "I remembered you, my love. You had gone through so much tragedy that night. To see me consumed by the Hollow, and then killed by Rukia. You had to have been in so much pain. I had to get back to you Kaien, I had to."

He let _Nejibana_ clatter to the ground and wrapped up Miyako in his arms, tight. He didn't want to hear anymore. It just brought back... painful memories. Didn't need those right now. Not with Miyako miraculously, impossibly, with him again.

And yet he had a duty. Rukia and the others were waiting for him. He had to get back to them. Had to get them out of this battle zone. And after that was done, he could talk with Isane and Captain Kurotsuchi and see if something could be done for—

He tensed up at the thought. Yamamoto's unyielding stance towards Unohana and the Hueco Mundo forces was well known. He brought Miyako—a Soul Reaper's mind dwelling within a Hollow's body—to the attention of Captain Kurotsuchi, and his wife would only be able to look forward to a lifetime of experimentation. That is, if Yamamoto didn't simply incinerate her.

"Kaien, love? You're hurting me," he heard his wife whisper into his chest. He started, looking down. He was squeezing Miyako, hard. He eased up.

But what could he do, dammit? He wanted nothing more that to hold his wife close to him, but he had to think of what was going on, that there were in the middle of a war. He had to think of the consequences of Miyako revealing herself.

He had to think over whether he could still side with the Thirteen Court Guard Squads with Miyako's life at stake.

Throat was dry. He swallowed. "Miyako, we have to—"

Wait, he heard flash-steps heading this way.

* * *

"Maybe this wasn't such a good idea," Rukia grunted as she snapped a kick into the gut of a clone Arrancar. Knocked off balance, it wasn't able to dodge the kido spell that blew a quarter of its chest away.

"Better than the alternative," she heard Renji grunt, whirling _Zabimaru_ in a wide arc that left an Arrancar gushing blood from a torn throat. As her friend tried to recover his zanpakuto, a clone dropped from overheard, sword angled downwards. No, she wasn't going to have _any_ of that. She and Renji still had to have a big talk, dammit.

"_Tsugi no Mai_: _Hakuren_!"

The blast was a little off. Instead of encasing the Hollow entirely in ice, she had only gotten its lower three-quarters. Didn't matter, since when Renji's blade completed a loop and shattered the ice, nothing would survive with only a fourth of its body.

Panting, she scanned the area. Nothing. Well, nothing alive, that is. A couple of bodies were dissolving in typical Hollow fashion.

She saw a small rivulet of blood drip down Renji's left forearm. Oh.

"You're hurt," she said, hurrying over. She didn't have anything to bind it with. Uh. Wait, she did!

"So are you," her friend grunted. Renji looked pointedly at legs. She blinked. She had a small gash along the outside edge of her right thigh. Huh. She hadn't even felt it.

In any case, first things first. She could get to it later. It didn't seem to be bleeding badly, anyway.

"I'll be fine," she said, reaching into her shihakusho.

"The hell you'll be. Let me—Rukia, what the hell is that?"

"Nothing," she temporized, knotting the bandage around Renji's bicep. Well, not quite up to Squad Four standards, but it would have to do.

She watched the other Soul Reaper crane his head down to look at the binding. Renji blinked a few times, rapidly. "Is that a rabbit?"

She sighed explosively. "It's a Chappy handkerchief, all right? Sue me. Orihime gave it to me for a birthday present."

"Chappy. Handkerchief." Renji looked blank for a moment... and then burst out laughing.

Note to self: keep the rabbit handkerchief at the barracks next time.

Still, she chuckled a bit. And then she stumbled as her leg got weak. She windmilled her arms, trying to steady herself. Darn. Nothing to grab—

She blinked and looked up. Renji had caught her. Um. Okay.

"Told you that your leg wound wasn't fine," Renji groused. Her friend deposited her on a pile of rubble, getting her weight off her legs.

She watched as Renji patted himself down. Heh. Apparently something like a handkerchief wasn't standard lieutenant gear. "Listen," she said, "you can—"

She heard Renji grumble something, right before he tore off the bandana he wore around his head and tore open the rip on her nakama a little wider. Then Renji started to reach beneath the cloth to wrap the bandana around the injury. Right. She waited for her friend to finish binding her wound.

She swore Renji was releasing some spiritual pressure, or something. For some reason, her skin was getting tingly as Renji wound the cloth around her thigh. Spiritual pressure. That had to be it. Not the skin contact.

Renji straightened from his crouch and shrugged. "That's not sterile , _at all_, but it'll hold until we get you some proper medical treatment. I think fourth Squad can take care of infections, or whatever.

Uh-huh. Renji really did look different without his hair in that floppy braid he normally kept it in. It looked... nice. She shook her head. They were in a warzone. Warzone!

"Great," she said, looking down at the sweaty but nonetheless relatively clean bandana. "Renji-germs in my bloodstream."

"Better than having no blood in your bloodstream, huh?"

"I'll agree with you on that one."

She heard the buzzing booms of Arrancar Sonìdo. She caught Renji's eyes, and nodded. They had to move.

Renji nodded to her and took the lead. They were meandering through the Rukon, and the boom-cracks of the Arrancar told her that the two of them were still being followed. Thankfully, she and Renji had grown up in the Rukongai, so they knew enough about the nooks and crannies that they wouldn't have to engage the Hollows unless they were cornered. And if they were, hey, they weren't doing so bad.

Suddenly, a brief burst of spirit energy flooded the area. What? Felt like Kaien's!

"Came from over there, about a hundred meters away," she heard Renji mutter. Her friend turned to look at her. "Go?"

"We're here to rescue him, after all."

Renji snorted, but her friend shifted direction to move towards Kaien's energy.

Something was strange, though. Kaien was basically playing tag with the Espada, keeping track of and making sure not to get cornered. Kaien was good with a blade, yes, but the Espada had enough raw speed and strength that no amount of skill would make a difference. So why hadn't Kaien's presence moved from the location she had first sensed it at?

Shaking her head, she crept around some the sturdier Rukon buildings—some of which looked worse for wear—and stopped. The lieutenant's energy had just... ebbed. That only happened when you relaxed, or when you were dying.

Her throat went dry.

"Rukia!" she heard Kaien's voice call out from around the corner. "Renji!"

She cautiously peeked out and... what in the world! She drew in a breath sharply as she saw Kaien, sealed katana in one hand. The other arm was holding...

Was holding Miyako Shiba. Kaien's wife. The woman she had admired, and killed. Who was somehow alive.

"Third... third seat?" she stammered as she limped out from behind the wall. "Miss Miyako?"

"Rukia Kuchiki," the other woman said, and as she watched Miyako's warm smile tightened. Her throat had become even more parched. Kaien had forgiven her for her role in Miyako's death, had never really blamed her, in fact. She almost believed Kaien. but Miyako... Miyako's view had to be an entirely different story.

She sealed _Sode no Shirayuki_, sheathed it, and slowly stepped towards the two of them. There was the sound of only one set of footsteps. Where had Renji gone? Didn't matter. She had to speak with Miyako.

Kaien's wife left the lieutenant's side and started stalking towards her with that unreadable expression. It made her blood chill. In her nightmares, in some of her more morbid daydreams, she sometimes wondered how someone would react when confronted with their murderer. Goodness knew she had some idea of how things went since she had to send Wholes to the Soul Society.

Now she knew. It hurt. She had admired the beautiful, graceful, extremely feminine Miyako Shiba in equal measure as the powerful, skilled, and dutiful Third Seat Shiba. She had never meant for any of that to happen! She'd just wanted the people she admired and loved to be happy.

Happy. She'd rammed a blade through Miyako's chest. How had had that been for happy?

"Rukia," she heard Miyako say quietly to her, and she shivered ever so slightly.

"Miss Miyako," she said. Her voice was so quiet. Had they heard her?

"You killed me."

"Yes," she said through gritted teeth. She clenched her fists, and she felt her nails biting into her palms. "I never wanted that to happen. I'm sorry, so very sorry."

"I know you are," Miyako replied, a bit more softly. "And I accept your apology, Rukia."

She bowed her head and looked down at the ground. She couldn't bear to look at Miyako any longer.

"But Rukia, you know what you did that night. You've caused my husband unbelievable suffering these near twenty years. Lord Ukitake took my death hard, as any halfway decent commander would. The squad members, my family... all of them, Rukia, suffered." Miyako's voice dropped an octave. "There must be a balancing of accounts."

She stiffened at that. A part of her mind wanted to resist, to fight against death, but another part did not want to. A part of her wanted to balance the scales, to pay for one murder with her own life.

She didn't move a centimeter as Miyako slowly padded up to her. She felt a hand on her shoulder, and she looked up, into Miyako's eyes. She saw... disappointment there, as well as utter sadness, and something else. Couldn't make out what it was, but she didn't care.

There was a tug at her sash. She looked down, and saw Miyako's other hand, the bare, non-gloved one, slowly drawing _Sode no Shirayuki_ from its sheath.

"My death was painless, Rukia, that much I can say," Miyako said to her in barely more than a whisper, and she shivered again. "I owe you the same death."

Her view abruptly blurred. Tears. She didn't wipe them away though, just let them stream down her face.

Miyako had taken a step back, _Sode no Shirayuki_ in the other woman's hands. She felt edge lying gently on the side of her throat.

"I hope you will forgive me, Rukia Kuchiki," Miyako said.

"Miyako..." she heard Kaien, somewhere, too far away, say hoarsely.

"One moment, love," she heard Miyako murmur. She watched the sword draw back... and then flash forward.

She closed her eyes.

* * *

Renji frowned. Something was really, _really_ messed up with this situation. Something just wasn't sitting right with him. Well, yeah, Third Seat Shiba demanding for repayment was definitely ringing alarm bells in his head, but that wasn't just it.

He had seen that person wearing Third Seat Shiba's face throw Ceros and Balas. Well, masked, yes, but the garb and body shape had been the same. There had definitely been Sonìdo. She had referred to Ukitake not as captain, but as "Lord".

And from his position a few meters behind Rukia, hunkered down behind what used to be a vegetable stand, he could see Shiba's eyes. There was definite sadness there. Also...

Almost a year ago, before this whole mess had started, he'd been part of a detachment of Soul Reapers that had been deployed to the low-numbered Rukongai areas to track down and capture—or eliminate—a serial rapist-murderer who had been targeting the young women of the area. It took a couple of weeks to track the man down—the criminal was damned clever about hiding and erasing his tracks—but they'd eventually cornered him. He'd been there as the security troops were dragging the guy away. The rapist-murderer had been making perfectly calm, seemingly reasonable arguments about why he should be allowed to stick things into women that had no business being there at all. Some of them had seemed logical, in real sick, completely psychopathic way.

What he remembered most, as the man was led off to be tried and executed, was those eyes. However clever the man was, however articulate and reasonable and calm his speech was, he couldn't shake the memory of those eyes. There had been a serious... wrongness in them. It wasn't just one thing or another, but just a whole mix of things that told him that the fugitive wasn't just criminally insane, he was bughouse nuts.

And that was what he saw in "Miyako Shiba's" eyes. It was plain _wrong_.

He started. "Miyako" had drawn Rukia's sword and leveled it at his friend's neck.

Oh, hell.

He drew back his zanpakuto, trying for an angle that would both block the attack and drive this insane woman away.

"Miyako's" hand blurred forward.

He started to flick _Zabimaru_ forward. Dammit, too late. He was too...!

_Clang_!

He stared. Kaien had flash-stepped forward and blocked the strike. He saw both Shibas straining forward.

"Miyako, please," he heard Kaien gasp. "Please, don't do this."

The taller woman didn't say anything. He watched Kaien maneuver _Nejibana_ in a blade bind that threw Rukia's zanpakuto into the air, until it landed, point down, in the earth a meter from where Rukia was standing. "Miyako" stumbled a few steps backward, and he saw what looked like shock on the woman's face.

"Kaien, love, _why_?"

Kaien had straightened up, and because the other lieutenant's back was to him, he couldn't see Kaien's face. But the voice he heard told him that Kaien was damned conflicted right now. Humph. He ducked back behind the broken wood and started to make his way around. He needed a better shot.

"Miyako, this isn't you," he heard Kaien plead. "Please. There has to be another way."

"Miyako's" eyes narrowed briefly. "Kaien, how can you say that! This woman took you from me, and I from you! Things _must_ be made right!"

"I..." he heard Kaien stammer. "We'll figure it out. But not with Rukia's death. That's not a price you'd be willing to exact."

Hmm. He could clamber up this building, maybe get on the roof...

"Kaien, would you defend her? My killer?"

"I... I don't know Miyako. I can't know, not now. But I know we can work something out. Something that doesn't have to involve more death."

He started carefully climbing up some broken down walls, onto the roof of a better-constructed stone building. He could flash-step up there with no problem, but the energy he'd use would give him away. He had to be all sneaky.

"I... I think I understand now," he heard Kaien's wife say. He couldn't see "Miyako's" face, but he could hear real deep pain in those words.

With a hop, he mantled onto the roof. Hah. He slowly crawled forward, until he could look down. Kaien was standing between the two woman, facing "Miyako" with _Nejibana_ drawn. Well, kind of drawn. The tip was wavering, and it wasn't even pointed in the older woman's general direction.

"You love her, don't you?"

A jolt went through his body.

Silence. Then, "Yes, Miyako, I... I do."

Another jolt. Something had taken his stomach and wrenched it into a bad knot.

Damn it. He'd had a guess that Kaien... liked to have Rukia around, and stuff. But he'd never thought it could be like this.

He took a breath. His hands were clutching _Zabimaru_ so hard they were shaking. Breathe. Dammit, breathe.

He watched "Miyako", shaking, wander back to a zanpakuto that was stuck point down in earth a few meters from Kaien and Rukia. The taller woman yanked it out.

"I don't believe it Kaien," she heard "Miyako" murmur. "I thought you loved me, loved me more than life itself. Was it a lie?"

"No, I..."

"Kaien, you tell me no, but you betray me as much as Rukia has. The woman who looked up to me and who killed me. The man that I served with, and eventually fell in love with and married. You've all betrayed me." The voice dropped to a whisper, and he saw the insane wrongness in the woman's eyes spark. "How dare you."

"Miyako..."

"Miss Miyako..."

"Engulf all, _Rekkabana_!"

Dammit! He flung himself down from the roof, hurling _Zabimarui _forward at the insane woman. He landed behind Rukia, scooped her up and—

And suddenly it was hot and bright. Something picked him and Rukia up and slammed him, hard, into the building he'd just jumped off of.

Ow. He shook his head, trying to get the pretty flashing stars out of his vision, and saw "Miyako's" sword in shikai form. _Rekkabana_ had transformed from a katana to a long naginata, and as he watched flame licked out from the blade. To top it off, there was a lot of hot, heavy spiritual energy flying around. Had to be the insane woman's. Worse, it was a lot stronger than a third seat's had any right to be.

Wheezing, he got back to his feet, still clutching Rukia. His friend looked dazed. Whether it was from the fiery explosion or the conversation—or, hell, both—he didn't know. But _Sode no Shirayuki_ was still stuck in the ground a ways off, and "Miyako" looked murderous. Up to him and Kaien. The guy who loved Rukia.

He grit his teeth.

* * *

Kaien didn't know what to do. _Didn't_ _know what to do_, _damn it all_!

His wife had attacked him. Attacked _Rukia_.

He got back to his feet—the release of Miyako's shikai had knocked him clear off his feet—and leveled _Nejibana_ in front of him. Nineteen years ago, he hadn't been able to lift his sword at the Hollow-possessed body of his wife.

Now with a not-quite-normal Miyako before him, and Rukia behind him, he was able to. Damn him to hell.

"Rankle the seas and the skies," he muttered, ignoring the fact that his voice was cracking, "_Nejibana_."

Waves crashed out to slam against Miyako's flames, and the area went hazy with steam.

As the mist swirled around him, he felt strangely... divided. On one hand he felt a kind of relief that he had finally admitted, out loud, what he felt for Rukia. The constant doubt was finally put to rest with a few spoken words.

Spoken to his wife. He felt himself cringe a little. He'd sworn to love Miyako as much as life itself, and to forever cherish her. And he'd just told Miyako that he was in love with Rukia.

What kind of horrible man was he, to say something like that to his wife? What—

"_Nyah_!" he grunted as a splash of flame came crashing down at him from above. He rolled out of the way, and the fire splashed down at the place where had been standing, scorching it. He sent water surging up in the direction of the blast, but the boom of a Sonìdo told him he'd probably missed.

"Renji!" he called into the fog. There was so much reishi swirling around he couldn't pinpoint the other lieutenant, much less Miyako.

"I'm fine!" a voice came out through the steam. "Hold on!"

Hmm? He frowned as a wind suddenly picked up, lifting the steam up and away. He squinted through the haze. Oh. Ah-hah.

Renji was whirling _Zabimaru_ in wide arc, forming an air current that blasted the fog away.

The mist lifted away, just in time to reveal Miyako closing in on Renji's back.

His hands jerked. Could he... could he do it? Attack his wife? To save Renji, whom he strongly suspected harbored the same feelings for Rukia. He wasn't blind. He saw how the two of them interacted. And, stupid him, had been conflicted with how he felt about Rukia, so he'd never done anything about it.

But now, all he had to do was just do nothing. Just...

Oh, what the hell was he thinking? He was not going to turn into someone like _that_. The fact that he'd even considered it, even for a second, disgusted him.

With a sweep of his trident he sent water arcing around the other lieutenant, crashing towards Miyako and forcing his wife to break off. Renji waved a hand in thanks. He nodded back.

There was sound of static, and his wife appeared a few dozen meters away from him, _Rekkabana_ held in one hand. Fire streamed out from the naginata and met the water streaming with _Nejibana_ with a hiss of steam.

"Third Seat," he heard Renji call out. He winced, but didn't do anything. Considering all the emotional baggage he had going on, Renji had a better chance of defusing the situation. "I don't know what the hell's going on here, but trying to kill each other isn't going to make it any better."

"What do you suggest," Lieutenant Abarai?" Miyako answered, voice cold.

"I don't know! Just not... just not this," Renji continued, gesturing at _Zabimaru_. "Not here."

He saw his wife narrow her eyes and stare at Renji. "Ah, so you're worried about Rukia Kuchiki as well, aren't you?"

Renji started to say something. Then he saw movement from Miyako, a hand that was crackling with red energy. The other man looked distracted by Miyako's words to notice. Ugh. He started to send a shield of water between Renji and Miyako, to shout a warning.

But he was too slow.

A small, incredibly fast sphere of crimson energy smashed into Renji's head, sending the other lieutenant sailing away. No! He'd seen Balas smash apart buildings like they were tinder. If Renji had—

He shook his head. If Renji was dead, the other man was dead. If not, not. Worrying about it now wasn't going to change Renji's situation one bit, unless Miyako wanted to move in and attack again.

He released they breath he'd been holding—hell, he hadn't realized he'd been holding it—and turned to face his wife squarely.

"Miyako, please, stop," he pleaded.

Miyako wife didn't say a thing, just started stalking forward while weaving _Rekkabana_ in an intricate pattern. His breath caught in his throat. He knew those movements, knew them so well.

"Come, my husband, who has betrayed me," he heard his wife whispered. "Let us dance like we used to."

There was a blur, and a blazing naginata blade was streaking towards his face. Instinctively, he parried the strike and countered with a jet of water that was blasted to steam by Miyako's block. He swept _Nejibana_ at his wife's feet, who simply somersaulted over the attack and lashed out with the butt of her naginata in midair. He slid out of the way, tapping the hilt of _Rekkabana_ to overbalance his wife. Miyako had obviously expected it, since the weapon was limp at the strike, whirling to recover even as Miyako touched back down.

He swept his trident overhead, sending water crashing down. A web of hot steel sliced into the torrent, evaporating and smashing it. He flash-stepped forwards, rolling past Miyako and whipping his weapon around his wife before she could recover. Miyako grunted as he trapped her with _Nejibana_ across her body.

"Kaien, Kaien, Kaien," he heard his wife muse. "I'm sure you've heard the saying about a woman scorned."

Ah! He felt something pushing into his trident, levering it up and away. Miyako? When had she ever been this stro—

Flying. He was flying through the air to—

_WHAM_.

—hit the ground. Oh. Ow. Groaning, he clambered back to his feet, just in time to deflect a strike that would have left his guts sliding out of his abdomen. Too close.

This was all wrong. Miyako was using the same movements and techniques that he remembered when they had sparred and trained, but now those movements were bolstered by extraordinary strength and speed. All things considered, Miyako was very near his equal in zanjutsu, and he would win their sessions mainly because he was a bit stronger and faster than his wife. Now...

Stab coming in at face. Rotate hips, bring trident up, parry across haft. Counterattack low with blade, followed by a second strike with the other end. Slip to the side to avoid counter, and retaliate with a blast of water to diffuse the flames.

His mind was going... blank. It was just another training session with his wife. He had to think of it like that. If the truth really wormed its way into his brain, that his wife was trying to... trying to _kill_ him, and that was he was willing to visit injury upon Miyako, he would shut down. Completely.

Then he would die.

And so would Rukia.

Miyako would kill them both.

And then something exploded.

* * *

Renji blinked. Ow. His head _hurt_. It felt like a herd of Gillians were taking tap-dancing classes in his head.

Okay, to be honest, he didn't mind it much. Feeling a headache meant feeling pain, and feeling pain meant he was still alive. Surprising, that, since a Bala had been introduced to his face. He'd managed to release some of his spiritual pressure to soften the blow, so he wasn't knocked out cold, or, er, decapitated. But it still _hurt_.

And why was there a burning naginata trying to poke his face?

His eyes widened, and he rolled to the side as the crazy lady's weapon stabbed towards his head. Ah! He lashed _Zabimaru_ across his body—awkward positioning—and convinced "Miyako" to slip back out of range. He used that breathing space to get back to his feet. By then, the woman had disappeared.

He paused to look around. Huh. The area was equal parts soaked and scorched, which meant that Kaien had at least wised up to the fact that "Miyako" wasn't here for a relationship counseling session. On the other hand, there was steam floating around again, which was going to make things tough. He could do his fanning trick again, but last time that had happened he'd almost been blindsided by Kaien's wife, and he _really_ wasn't keen on that happening again. But without that, he wouldn't be able to see crap.

Dilemmas really sucked.

Wait, there. He head a sizzling sound, and a flash of yellow to the front. Fire masked by the steam. "Miyako". He raised _Zabimaru_ into a defensive position and slowly moved forward. He heard the rapid clanging sound of a fierce battle. There was a roaring sound, like when a fire suddenly rose up... and he had to duck as Kaien went sailing over his head to crunch into the ground with a thump. Kaien stirred, but didn't look to be going anywhere for the moment.

The other lieutenant was out of the picture, at least for the next couple of moments, which left him between "Miyako" and Rukia. His hands twitched. Yeah, the way things were going, he was pretty sure he was out of his league. Whatever rank Miyako Shiba had had twenty years ago, it clearly wasn't what she would have had today. He had to unleash _Hihio Zabimaru_.

Wait.

No, he couldn't. Kaien was a tough guy, but Rukia wasn't, at least not on the same level. He threw around the large amounts of spiritual energy it required to get his bankai going, he'd probably end up hurting his friend. Rukia would most likely survive it—and that was assuming she was unconscious and wouldn't exert her own spiritual pressure in a defensive screen

But... Rukia had gone through enough today, dammit. First his boneheaded plans, now Miyako gone nuts, and Kaien... Kaien saying things. No, he'd just have to deal with this with only his shikai and whatever else he could scrape together.

He inhaled, and released the breath slowly. Okay. He could do this. He _had_ to.

There was a crackling boom to, behind him. Ah!

He'd barely ducked beneath that sweep! Would've taken off his head. He countered with a heavy swing at the woman, but "Miyako" danced out of range. Yeah, right. Let that crazy lady think that. On the backswing, he whipped _Zabimaru_ out, allowing it to snake forward. "Miyako" knocked the flail away with an _incredibly_ unladylike sneer and sent a jet of flame towards his face. Ugh.

He recovered his blade and sent it contorting in front of him. It blocked the fire.

Well, most of it. Something hot splashed across his cheek, and he grimaced. He weaved _Zabimaru_ back into a recovery position, only to have "Miyako" draw a sweeping slash across his stomach.

"Nyah!" he grunted as he parried the strike away. Close! He flash-stepped forward and up, aiming a downward strike at the woman. The flail closed in, only to be tapped away with a smooth movement from the hilt. Another blast of flame.

Oookay, no way to counter it effectively. He unleashed as much of his spiritual pressure as he could. Hopefully it would dampen the blow enough that he—

Ah. Ouch. Okay, could've been worse. He could have been a charred Renji steak, not a blistered and mildly cooked Renji cratered into the ground. He hauled himself out, just in time to see a red-hot naginata blade speeding towards his throat. No time. Couldn't get his blade in play to block it. Only thing he could do was twist, and hope the hit wasn't instantly fatal.

And then a blast of water knocked the woman away.

Ah! He leaped up from the ground, and followed Kaien as the other lieutenant kept up a blur of attacks on "Miyako". He flanked, and tried to get in at the woman's back. Had to, for Rukia.

* * *

So the two lieutenants and the entity calling itself Miyako Shiba danced about, with Miyako doing her best to kill the two men. Kaien himself tempered his own attacks, seeking to incapacitate, while Renji Abarai was simply trying to neutralize Miyako. Whether it was a killing blow or merely a crippling one was of no consequence to him. Kaien Shiba's attacks were also quick on the verge of frantic, as he sought to prevent his crazed wife from injuring the incapacitated Rukia Kuchiki further.

It was not an even battle. The person calling herself Miyako gracefully slipped past every attack, and the two Soul Reapers were only able to survive her powerful counters by working together. It was, however, a losing proposition.

Renji's refusal to unleash his bankai, the massive _Hihio Zabimaru_, itself precluded any victory over the woman. Miyako Shiba was simply too powerful to be overwhelmed by mere shikais. To compound the issue, Renji's very reasoning to not release his most powerful ability was flawed to begin with. Rukia was no frail flower, and even if she were unconscious she could have withstood the intense spiritual pressure of the final release. As it were, in her semi-conscious state, she would have had no problem. Renji was letting his worry for Rukia hamper himself.

Any hope for a draw, to drive the woman off and allow them time for recuperation and perhaps reinforcements, was also impossible. Kaien'd mind was not fully involved in the fight. He was an astonishing warrior, and his skill with the trident _Nejibana_ was well known among the Thirteen Court Guard Squads. The man's mind was too occupied with the self-hatred arising from attacking his wife... and the confusion that came with declaring his love for another woman. Alas, his parries were a heartbeat too slow, his counterattacks a blink too sluggish.

Fortunately—or unfortunately, given the ultimate outcome—the constant fighting had churned up the earth in the immediate vicinity. _Zabimaru_ had dug out treacherous pits and divots out of the soil, while _Rekkabana_ had baked them smooth. The water constantly flowing from _Nejibana_ had slickened the hardened earth.

The being calling itself Miyako slipped on one of those pocks, and, for a split second, she faltered in her smooth, dancelike steps. She stumbled... which brought her face directly into the path of one of Renji's whiplike strikes.

* * *

"_MIYAKO_!" Kaien shrieked as he saw Renji's shikai rip through his wife's face amidst a shower of golden sparks. He almost dropped his zanpakuto, but, instead, he felt his hand lock up in a panic reaction. His wife! He had to go to Miyako, try to stem the bleeding.

Miyako had stumbled away from the attack, and she stood a few paces off, the injured side of her face away from him and Renji. He started forward, but something grabbed his arm. He snarled, and if Renji hadn't moved on his off side he would've stabbed the other lieutenant through the stomach.

"Let go of me," he growled.

"Wait, dammit," Renji snapped. "Something's not right. She's not bleeding."

Huh? Of course Miyako would be bleeding. He'd seen _Zabimaru_ go through his wife's face! Of course there would be—

Bleeding.

He stared.

There was no bleeding.

His breath caught in his throat.

Miyako turned to face them, and he nearly sank to his knees at the sight. His wife's face, the face he remembered whenever they had spoken on duty, or when they had taken meals together, or when they had looked into each other's eyes, or when they had made love, was a mangled ruin. It was just... ripped away on most of one side. Hideously. Not even a medical wizard like Unohana would have been able to repair that horrific damage.

But the worst part? No, it wasn't the damage. Not by far. The worst part was the smooth reddishness he said beneath the flesh, something that wasn't natural.

"I was wondering how long this would take," Miyako said, in a voice horribly absent of emotion. The mangled mess that had been his wife's mouth didn't move as the words came out. As he watched, Miyako reached up a hand to what remained of her head.

Oh no, no, no, no, _no_.

With a jerk, the thing that he had thought was Miyako tore the rest of the flesh away.

He took a step back in shock, and he felt his heart start to beat faster and faster. No, no, no! What was this nightmare? It had to be a nightmare! Nothing could be so horrific and surreal.

Where Miyako's head had been, there was now an elongated, reddish dome. Wait, not, not reddish. It was clear, but the... liquid... floating within was what gave it the crimson color.

And floating inside were two small, skull-looking things.

He almost lost it, right there. He was _this_ close to curling up into a ball and sobbing on the ground.

And then he remembered. Rukia. He thought of the woman he now admitted to himself that he loved.

Miyako's—no, the body of the _thing_ that had called itself Miyako—rippled, settling out of feminine form into one that was decidedly androgynous.

"Humph, and all that trouble I went through to make sure it was night and I wasn't exposed to sunlight," the creature in front of him said, still in Miyako's voice. The skulls spoke in perfect unison. "Perhaps next time—"

"_STOP IT_!" he heard himself scream.

The thing stopped, and the heads in their capsule turned to stare at him. "Oh, what is it now, my beloved Kaien?"

He heard himself roar, something wordless and visceral. Then, "Stop it, _now_," he snarled. "How dare you speak in her voice. _HOW DARE YOU_!"

There was a pause, and then he watched the two skulls bellow out laughter. For the first few horrible seconds, it was as if his wife was making that evil cackle, but then the voices started to separate, or something, and become distinct. It was like one of them had a rumbling, deep masculine voice like breaking granite, while another had a high, feminine, almost squeaky timbre.

"What..." he heard Renji whisper from beside him, "What _are_ you?"

He felt his hand move to his mouth, tracing his lips. How was that possible? He'd kissed this... thing, and he'd felt the familiarity of his wife's lips. He'd _known_ whom they belonged to. How could they belong to this monstrosity?

The laughing stopped, and the creature waved a hand at itself in a flourish. "That is a difficult question to adequately answer, Soul Reaper. I am a Hollow. I am a Gillian. I am an Arrancar." The thing turned to face him. "And for you, Kaien, I am female. Or am I male. Or I am both. Or I am neither. I suppose it does not matter, for it does not make your Miyako Shiba any less dead."

_Nejibana_ leveled at the Arrancar. He didn't remember bringing it to bear. "You will die," he spat.

The Hollow gave its wild, modulated laugh again. "You would kill your wife?" it said in... in Miyako's voice. "You would kill the woman you pledged your love to? Of course, I would not be surprised, since you have already cast me away for Rukia."

With a snarl he sent a torrent of water at the Arrancar, but it almost lazily sidestepped the attack. It's speed was even greater than before, as if it had holding back while playing its little masquerade.

"Who are you?" he growled. Out of the corner of his eye he say Renji moving off to the side. Good. Trying to flank. Keep it talking.

The Hollow chuckled. "My name is Aaroniero Arruruerie, and I have the pleasure of being the Sexto Espada."

"Espada," he spat. "How were you able to assume my wife's form?

"Form?" the Hollowed asked in Miyako's voice. "Why can't you believe it's me, Kaien?"

He ignored the obvious goad. An Espada. No more distractions. It was literally life or death now.

"Heh. I suppose you can call it providence. You see, I am unusual for an Espada. My base form is that of a Gillian-type Menos Grande, the so-called lowest form of Menos. What sets me apart from the other Gillians—indeed, all the other Espada—is that I have unlimited potential. I can consume and consume infinitely."

To keep Aaroniero occupied, he sent another wave at the Arrancar, but it dispersed the attack with a wave of Miyako's _Rekkabana_. "Pathetic," he heard the Hollow say conversationally. "But as you were wondering about your lovely wife, the abilities and strengths of the Hollows I consume become mine."

Strengths of the... his eyes widened.

"When the Hollow that had attacked and possessed your woman's body—I believe the little morsel was called Metastacia, or something or other— was critically wounded by the Kuchiki girl, it fled, half-dead, to Hueco Mundo to restore itself. By chance, I came upon it and devoured it. Slowly and very painfully, if that brings you any comfort, Soul Reaper.

"As I assimilated it, I gain possession of its rather unique ability. And, as a byproduct, your wife's form, memories, and zanpakuto."

He stared blankly at the Espada. Had to stay calm...

"You don't believe me? I can tell you where you took her out for dinner when you first started courting her. Or what she we were wearing on our wedding night. Or, perhaps—"

He saw movement. Renji. With a cry, he summoned a massive wave and hurled it at the Espada, just as Renji came in from the side. Between the blinding, crushing force of _Nejibana_ and the savage power of _Zabimaru_, they should be able—

"Ah!" he cried as something slammed into his chest... _hard_. Ah, a Cero. Ugh. On top of blasting him off his feet, it had completely broken apart his water attack. As he watched, Renji's blade swept on, only to be flicked aside as the Arrancar tapped it with its wrist. The Arrancar stretched a hand out and sent a Bala streaking into the other lieutenant.

"Entertaining," he heard the Hollow say contemptuously.

He saw Aaroniero plant _Rekkabana_ into the ground and reach for its gloved hand. Some kind of... ooze humped its way up the Espada's bowl-head till it covered it completely. What was it doing

Wait.

No.

No, not again.

The sludge shifted colors and shifted its shape, as did the Hollow's body, and again Miyako was looking back at him. The Hollow smiled, but the cruel grin was unlike anything that had graced his Miyako's face.

"Don't think that you ever have a chance, Soul Reapers," the Hollow said coldly in his wife's voice. "I could have killed you at any time."

The Arrancar's bare hand settled on its gloved one. "As for _why_ you're all still alive... well." The thing with Miyako's face bared its teeth in an ugly grin. "I am told I have an unfortunate tendency to play with my food."

And then the glove came off.

* * *

Rukia could hear... words, here and there. Kind of see things, though they were blurry. She could feel thumps coming from the ground, and she could smell blood and scorched flesh. Eyes were gritty. Humph.

She reached up a hand to rub at her eyes. Ah. Better. Now she could—

"_There must be a balancing of accounts_."

She remembered those words. They'd come from...

Her heart started thumping in her chest as she remembered. And things she had heard while semiconscious came rushing back, clear.

Aaroniero, not Miyako. Never had been. Miyako would _not_ have said those things to her and Kaien.

She gasped as she got back to her feet. Ah! She glanced down at her injured leg. Renji's bandana was soaked through with blood. Must have reopened it—or made it worse—when not-Miyako had released _Rekkabana_. Eh. It wasn't bad now, thankfully, but she'd need to get it treated properly or else it would become serious.

She heard a scream. She swung around to face the direction from where the sound had come from.

She almost cried out in panic. Aaroniero, now wearing Miyako's face again, was battling against Renji and Kaien. One arm held Miyako's released zanpakuto, while the other...

The other wasn't holding anything, because it was a horrible, deformed tentacle. As she watched, it whipped out and slammed into Kaien's shoulder. She heard a ripping sound.

She gasped as the limb withdrew, bloody. That thing had _teeth_ on the end of it! She watched the Squad Thirteen lieutenant sink to his knees, gasping in pain.

Renji appeared in a blur of flash-step, aiming for a decapitating chop. Aaroniero brushed the attack aside with a contemptuous flick of Miyako's naginata. Renji stumbled, off-balance.

With a laugh, Aaroniero tore through the side of Renji's torso with one-handed slash. She heard sizzling. She tried to choke out a cry, but her throat had suddenly dried up.

Kaien heaved himself off the ground and charged behind a rush of water, but _Rekkabana_ evaporated the wave. In horror, she watched the Arrancar get inside Kaien's guard and... stab him right through the stomach. The Espada lifted her lieutenant into the air before tossing him aside.

Had to do something. Had to...

She took a step forward. Or tried to. Her injured leg just wouldn't respond, dammit! She tripped, going down to her knees. Of all the perfect timing! She couldn't do anything like this, injured. There had to be some way to—

For some reason, she glanced up.

She stopped breathing. Then...

"_RENJI_!" she screamed.

Aaroniero—still with Miyako's face on—had walked up to Renji, tentacle-arm raised. The appendage's mouth yawned open, wider than Renji's shoulders, and started to descend. She could hear Aaroniero giggling as the teeth inched closer.

And then she blinked, because she was now a few meters away from Aaroniero, her zanpakuto raised to strike. She didn't remember picking her weapon up, or flash-stepping forward. She only saw the arm that was reaching down to kill the man she—

"Bakudo four, _Hainawa_!" she screamed, blasting out the restraining kido at the tentacle. The golden energy rope wove itself around the limb and cinched tight, preventing movement. Eh. But not for long. The Espada was already straining it to breaking.

"_Hiyah_!" she roared as she closed in and struck down. Her blow sparked against Hierro, barely penetrating, but she heard Aaroniero roar in pain even as she saw the tentacle flex and break the bakudo spell. A hammer hit her in the chest and she went sailing away.

Her teeth rattled as she struck a wall. She blinked. Everything was spinning again. She couldn't see a thing... except for that arm creeping up on Renji again.

"DANCE, _SODE NO SHIRAYUKI_!"

Even as she released her zanpakuto, she sent a hado spell streaking towards Aaroniero—she couldn't remember which one—and got in close while the Arrancar defended against the attack. She whirled a circle, channeling her spiritual force into her zanpakuto.

"_Some no Mai: Tsukishiro_!"

"You little fool," she heard Miyako's voice spit as she rolled out of the reach of her own attack. A pillar of frost rose up, freezing the everything within it. The tentacle with its gaping mouth had stopped advancing open Renji.

But then the tower of ice shattered into a hundred pieces, and Miyako—no, _Aaroniero_—stepped out, an ugly grimace on its face. Then the frown vanished, and Aaroniero giggled again. "Oh, how very entertaining."

Then she saw it, in those eyes. They were Miyako's eyes, yes, which could almost copy Miyako's mannerisms perfectly. It was how she'd almost let herself be killed. But only just almost.

She could see it in those eyes. Despite the Arrancar's guile, its fighting prowess, and even its collected speech, she could see instability.

No.

Not "instability."

Aaroniero Arruruerie was quite utterly insane.

_Sode no Shirayuki_ started to shake in her grasp. Had to stop. Had to steel herself for this. If two strong lieutenants like Kaien and Renji couldn't stop this Hollow, she couldn't hope to. She had to hold on until they got themselves back together. And, hopefully, she wouldn't be dead.

Aaroniero cocked its head at her in puzzlement. Then it grinned its manic grin again.

"Well, I do suppose there's a certain poetic justice to unleashing myself against the girl who killed me." The Hollow blinked. "Miyako. Metastacia. Oh. all the same thing.

Wait, "unleash?" She took an involuntary step backwards as the Espada's tentacle wrapped around itself amid a sickening series of squelches. Miyako's face was again grinning widely. At least the Arrancar had dropped all pretenses of being Kaien's late wife.

Without warning, a blast of spiritual pressure slammed into her, almost pushing her back. Ugh. She leaned into the force, trying to keep steady. Her leg couldn't take too much of it. She shielded her eyes against the kicked-up dust, but she managed a peek.

Her breaths were coming short and ragged. Panic. Panic seemed like a real good idea right now. But panic wouldn't just kill her, it would kill Renji and Kaien just as much.

She tightened her grip on her zanpakuto.

"Devour," Aaroniero said, turning the word into something ugly. "_Glotonerìa_."

* * *

As the release command went out, Aaroniero Arruruerie's body, still holding the form Miyako Shiba, seemed to explode. Noxious fumes exploded out from the Arrancar's lower half, billowing out and washing over Rukia Kuchiki. She shut her eyes against the stinging smoke and gripped her zanpakuto tight. Her injured leg wavered, but she stood strong against the tide.

After an eternity of heartbeats, the greater portion of the mist collapsed upon itself, solidifying into a gelatinous, putrid mass. Its formed sharpened into a misshapen thing that evoked images of octopi and rot, colored the repulsive purple of bruised flesh. It was a thing of grasping tentacles, toothy, gaping maws, where the upper half of Aaroniero squatted atop the corpulent mass.

Rukia had only a moment to take in the hideous massiveness of the Resurrecìon before one of the pustulent tentacles flicked towards her. It was a seemingly lazy blow, but had the young woman not dodged the strike it would have smashed her—fatally—into the ground. Having sidestepped the attack, Rukia retaliated with downward strike that opened an ichor-spraying wound in the limb. She cried out as some of the fulsome liquid slapped into her face. She clawed the stuff away, just in time to roll away from another tentacle. She chopped away at the rubbery appendage, and again purplish fluid spurted out. As it withdrew she sent a hado blast careening after it, and as the energy burst vaporized a chunk of flesh the size of man she heard Aaroniero scream in rage.

The seething mass began to creep forward awkwardly, tentacles whipping and teeth gnashing, towards Rukia. It was obvious to the Soul Reaper that she could not hold back Aaroniero's bulk. If the squirming tentacles didn't simply bludgeon her to death, the whole mass would just roll over her and squash or suffocate her.

And, as Rukia noted grimly, it would do the same to Renji and Kaien.

Gathering her spiritual energy, she flash-stepped up, towards the incongruously beautiful form of Miyako Shiba. The mad Arrancar cackled as Rukia closed in, and met _Sode no Shirayuki_ with the hot blade of _Rekkabana_.

Anchored as it was to its release, Aaroniero's footwork suffered. However, by the same token, Rukia's only footing was the putrid mass of the Espada's lower half, and it contrived to disrupt the young woman in every way possible. It would hump, bulge, flex and concave at every conceivable moment, and only Rukia's quick wits kept her from suffering a fatal blow from the flaming naginata. Constantly off-balance, and needing to keep her mind entirely concentrated upon her swordplay, Rukia was unable to utilize any of her Dances, which could have turned the tide of the duel.

But it did turn.

As Rukia stepped back to counter a parry, her vision swam, and her leg simply gave out on her. _Rekkabana_ whipped around, and Rukia attempted to scuttle out of the way. She was too slow, and the naginata cut a searing line of pain across her injured leg. Screaming in agony, she brought her zanpakuto up to fend off the follow-up blow.

Weak from injury, distracted by pain, and half-panicked, Rukia was unable to channel strengthening reishi into her zanpakuto. _Rekkabana_ smashed through, shattering the white zanpakuto into a dozen glittering shards.

Sluggishly, and still clutching her ruined blade, Rukia tried to strike back with kido, but an incredibly powerful arm locked her throat in a vice grip.

* * *

Rukia tried to get breath into her lungs, but Aaroniero's tentacled "hand" was wrapped around too tightly. She batted at it with the stub of _Sode no Shirayuki_, but her spiritual pressure was too weak, injured as she was. It just bounced off the Arrancar's Hierro.

"Rukia, Rukia, _Rukia_," she heard Miyako's voice say in a sing-song. "I did offer you a painless death." She watched _Rekkabana_ dip down and—

She tried to scream. All that came out was a muted gargle.

Aaroniero lifted the heated naginata away from her flank. Monster. Monster. Ah. The Hollow had let the blade sizzle against her flesh. Not fatal damage, but mind-numbingly painful. And with the tentacle wrapped around her neck, she couldn't even gasp properly. She almost dropped her zanpakuto, but something kept her hand clamped around it.

The hold on her neck loosened, and she sucked in a heaving breath even as she was dropped atop the gelatinous body of Aaroniero. She just... laid there. It was all she could muster up just to keep breathing, much less move.

She felt the "floor" shift underneath her. Huh. What was happening?

Her vision was getting blurry, but she noticed she was being turned to look down at Renji and Kaien.

Renji and Kaien.

"Which of them goes first, Rukia?" she heard Aaroniero ask cheerfully.

She tried to curse the Hollow, but her bruised throat wasn't having any of it. She just wheezed.

"What was that? I couldn't hear you."

Frowning, she raised a hand towards the Arrancar's face—Miyako's face. She built up energy for a hado strike, but it fizzled out.

She saw the Espada shrug. "Ah. I see. Both." The Arrancar turned to look down at the two lieutenants. "So, how should I do it? Gut them and let their entrails spill out all over you? Send a tentacle down their throats until they rupture? Maybe rip them limb from limb. Hmm." Aaroniero turned to her, grinning. "What would you like better? Renji's head on Kaien's body, or the other way around?"

She looked down at _Sode no Shirayuki_, still clutched in her hand. Did she have enough in her do pull it off? No, she didn't. Not like this, weak, beaten, and suffering from incredible blood loss. The wound in her leg was what had ended this, not Aaroniero itself.

Miyako's face suddenly slackened, losing all semblance of humor. "Or perhaps I'll devour them both," it said in an emotionless voice. "Who would you like to stick their sword into you, Rukia? Your childhood friend, or your lieutenant? Hmm? Should it be Renji or Kaien who kills you?" Chuckling, the Arrancar turned away to look down at Renji and Kaien.

And then time froze. She imagined that horrible, horrible limb opening wide and enveloping Kaien whole. And then Renji. And Renji...

No. Dammit. No

She would _not_ let that happen!

"Mask of flesh and blood," she whispered hurriedly to herself, letting her mind drift. This was something she'd never done before, but damn it all, she was going to make it work. "Universe soar. The one crowned with man's name. Carriage of thunder and gap of the spinning wheel, divide into six of light. Carve twin lotuses into the wall of blue flame, wait on the edge of the great fire in the heavens..."

Just as she finished the last stanza, Miyako's face turned towards her, frowning. Then Aaroniero's eyes widened.

"Bakudo sixty-one, _Rikujokoro_!"

Out of thin air six slabs of golden light appears before coming to spear down onto the Arrancar. It snarled something incomprehensible at her. She leveled a hand at the Arrancar's face and continued the double incantation.

"Hado seventy-three, _Soren Sokatsui_!"

She loosed the massive hado spell into Aaroniero's face, blinding herself with the backblast. Had she...?

No, she hadn't. The two eerie skull-things floating in the undamaged tank peered at her, frowning. With a casual flex, the Hollow broke the _Rikujokoro_ kido and turned fully to face her.

The two heads, they were right on top of each other. Good. Yes. Good. She could still do something.

Miyako's face again flowed over the tank.

She felt something slither over her throat and lift her again. It wasn't choking her, but she wasn't going anywhere. Heart was beating in her chest, but it was... all off. Out of rhythm and thready. Her head swam again. Dammit, no. Had to focus. Of all the times in her life, she just had to focus.

Aaroniero levered up so that they were looking at each other. Miyako's face was still devoid of all emotion.

"You annoy me, little Soul Reaper," it said in its dead monotone. "You bore me. But, I think there's a way for some more... entertainment." The Hollow swung _Rekkabana_ around so the hot blade was mere centimeters from her skin. She felt her cheek start to blister from the heat.

"If I understand Soul Reaper physiology right, you can survive some fairly traumatic injuries if blood loss is controlled. Cauterization is one method." Aaroniero pointedly looked down at her leg. "Or some such."

She watched the naginata descend. Her stomach tightened. She had to endure this. Had to—

She screamed again as the hot steel sank into her belly. Ah. Ah. No. Had to... couldn't... Ah.

"You can scream just fine, it seems," she heard a familiar voice say to her. She didn't know whose. Right now it was all about the white hot _pain_ in her stomach.

She had to... had to get around this pain. With the... the blade inside her body... Aaroniero couldn't... ah... use it to block.

She bit down on her cry, and her vision blurred again. Tears. Shakily, she grasped her zanpakuto with both hands and brought them up, haltingly, to point at Aaroniero's chin.

The Espada sighed. "Whatever you're planning on doing, it's useless. Are you going to take me on with that stub of a sword?" Miyako's face formed a frown. "Pathetic. You're dying, Rukia. Accept defeat!"

Her mouth worked. No sound. Ah. Not... not now. These were going to be the most important words she had ever spoken in her life.

"I doubt either of your two Dances could make so much as an ice cube, you idiot. What do you—"

Two Dances? Heh.

"_Sa_..._San no mai_," she choked out, letting every last bit of spiritual energy rush into her blade. "_Shirafune_."

Her sword suddenly chilled to a painful intensity. If she hadn't had a death grip on it the blade would have fallen from her numb fingers.

She watched ice gather at the edge of her shattered blade, glistening... until it exploded outwards, piercing into Aaroniero's mouth and out the back of its head. Miyako's eyes shot open in shock and horror. The Hollow tried to say something, but with _Sode no Shirayuki_'s ice blade jammed into its mouth, it wasn't going to happen. As she watched, Miyako's face melted away, revealing the bottom skull, pierced through by her sword. Frost and ice was beginning to form on the outside of the tank.

"Im... Impossible!" she heard the untouched skull gasp in horror.

"I'll never..." she ground out into the Arrancar's wide-eyed faces, "...let you touch them."

With a roar, she swung upwards, drawing her blade to cut through both skull-faces, and shattering the cylinder. And then she remembered falling.

Falling.

Falling down...

* * *

Rukia cracked open her eyes. Blurry. She could see two forms above her, one with red hair, another, black. Renji and Kaien.

She felt her mouth move to form a grin. They were both okay.

Motion. Hmm? Oh. They were trying to... treat her wounds. Dummies. Between her blood loss and internal injuries and burns, there wasn't any hope. Maybe Orihime, but that wasn't going to happen.

Huh. She was really calm about all this. Wonder why.

She blinked, and her vision cleared a tiny bit. Renji and Kaien were both shouting, it looked like. She couldn't tell, though, since the only thing she could seem to hear was the erratic beating of her heart.

In between yelling, they stilled tried to fuss with her. Silly. She was fine. Well, not fine. She was dying. But at least it wasn't hurting. Funny. You'd think dying would hurt, a lot, but it looked like all the philosophers and physicians were wrong.

Her arms felt incredibly heavy, but she moved them so her hands gripped one of Kaien's and one of Renji's.

They stopped, staring at her. She smiled again as she turned to Kaien.

"Thank you so much, Kaien," she said. She couldn't tell if she was actually making a sound, so she just had to hope. "Thank you for everything. I'm sorry for killing... killing her again. But I had to."

She could make out tears on Kaien's eyes. She watched her lieutenant shake his head and bellow out something. Couldn't make it out, but she could guess. It wasn't her fault, she had saved them all.

Had she? Hmm. Maybe she had.

"I'm sorry that you... love me, and that nothing could come of it," she continued. A little part of her mind, a tiny, tiny part, had been figuring that out while she had been fighting for the two men's lives. "But thank you for loving me, Kaien. It's good to know I was... loved."

She tilted her head towards Renji. Renji. Close childhood friend. Someone who had protected her amid all the things during the defection. During the Bounts. Even now.

"Same thing, Renji," she said. "Sorry."

She swallowed. Throat dry. Huh.

"I'm sorry that I... that I love you and that it ends like this. Sorry that we couldn't have done something... more about it. Or... I don't know. I'm no good... at this as all."

Suddenly Renji's face drew closer, a hand span away. She faintly felt a hand brushing through her hair, and another one cupping her cheek. Tears were in his eyes. Felt a couple drip onto her face

Renji was saying something. Couldn't hear it, of course. Hard to see what Renji was saying, too, since it was starting to get dark. Hmm. They'd been fighting at night. Shouldn't it be getting brighter, with the dawn? Or something?

Wait. She could sort of see what Renji was saying. Ah. She saw it.

Renji was saying it over and over again.

"I love you."

"I love you."

"I love y—"


	25. Chapter 19: Howl

**_DOWNFALL_**

By

Greg Wong

* * *

**Chapter 19: Howl**

* * *

"Bleed, _Minazuki_."

As the release command left her lips, Retsu's zanpakuto began to weep, and then transform into, thick green liquid that dripped towards the earth. Before it could hit the ground it evaporated into a pleasant-smelling gas that drifted about unaffected by her and Kenpachi's raging spiritual energy.

Soon, she was enveloped by the mist, and she reached a hand out in a gesture, even as she mentally summoned _Minazuki_. The thick mist coalesced into a denser cloud, before it began to take shape.

Her shikai formed after a few more heartbeats. But, instead of the benign, faintly ridiculous-looking flying manta ray, something else stepped forth.

It was vaguely humanoid, with shoulders hunched with powerful muscles and paws that ended in thick, sharp talons. It's rear legs weren't quite long enough for upright bipedal locomotion, so the green beast settled for an ape-like knucklewalk that kept its claws from scraping on the ground. Its skin was green, just like the manta ray, but instead it was covered in thorny scales and protrusions, not the smooth skin of its other form. It had a single jaundiced eye on its bulbous head, and the mouth that seemed to be grinning all the time held the same expression... only now with fangs the size of her forearm. The entire creature was near four meters tall.

_Minizuki_'s combat form lumbered forward, snuffling, until she pointed her finger at Kenpachi.

"Kill him," she whispered, and felt her stomach shuffle a bit at the command.

Bellowing, her shikai charged.

* * *

Yachiru yelped as something caught her sleeve. She twisted and planted a foot into the Arrancar's elbow, bending the Hollow's arm. She moved her arm in a broad motion, and Boobycar's grip loosened. She darted forward, aiming an open-handed strike at the Hollow, but Boobycar had responded just a bit faster, and there was suddenly a fist in her face.

This was going to hurt, wasn't it?

And then she was on the other side of a house. Said house had a big hole in its walls, and, yes, it _had_ hurt. She grimaced and she rolled back to her feet. This Arrancar wasn't like Fluffy way back when. This Arrancar wasn't all that slow—slower than Fluffy, sure, but fast enough—and she could freaking _hit_.

You know what? So could _she_.

Boobycar came barreling through the house they had just wrecked, and she flash-stepped forward, driving a fist into the Hollow's stomach. There was a big _whuff_ of exhaled breath and then it was the Arrancar's turn to go blasting off again.

She couldn't do this all day. Well, she could, sure, but then she had to help out the rest of the squad. The Arrancar had managed to drag her away from the rest of the squad amid the ambush. While most of them were silly and totally singled minded about finding things to hit with their zanpakuto, they were okay. She didn't want to see them get killed off or anything.

Which means she had to take out Boobycar and get a move on. Humph. Normally Kenny did this kind of thing for her, but Kenny wasn't around, was he?

Hmm? What was that crackling sound?

"Yah!" she cried as something orange and round and glowy came sailing at her face. She twisted her body, and the Bala missed her by a centimeter. She heard something explode behind her. Couldn't turn to look, of course, since Boobycar was back for round two.

This time the Hollow had a zanpakuto out, a big double-edged sword that didn't look like fun. She ran her hands along her sash and felt for the lanyard tied to her waist. Ah-hah. She yanked on it, ducking underneath a swing, and felt her zanpakuto's hilt slap itself into her hand. She pulled on the quick-release knot so that the wheeled sheath could fall away, and drew her blade in a smooth motion.

She and Boobycar's blades clanged into each other.

"Hi," she said with a grin. "So yeah, you've got ginormous melons. Doesn't your back hurt?"

The Arrancar just replied with a snarl, pushing down. Okay. Strong. Strong enough? Maybe. If she could annoy Boobycar enough, she could end this quickly.

And then a boot was coming up to her face. Uh... or not.

She turned just enough so that it didn't break her neck, but, _dang_ that had hurt. She blinked and shook her head. Ooh, birdies and stars in her vision.

She groaned and got back to her feet. the only time she'd been hit this hard was when she'd lost her grip on Kenny's shoulder just Kenny had done his maniacal "gonna-chop-you-up" swings at some Hollow. She'd done an impression of a cannonball... right into a tree. She'd shook it off pretty quick, since, you know, she was made of rubber, but it had still smarted something fierce at the moment of impact.

The kick was slightly worse. Not enough to put her out of the game, but enough to piss her off. And blood tended to fly when was pissed off. Hence shy she let Kenny do all the legwork.

But, again, no Kenny here today.

She creaked her neck and fixed the Arrancar with a stare. Boobycar was standing a couple of steps of, warily. Probably hadn't expected her to bounce back so quickly. On top of that, she was starting to learn how to read an Arrancar's aura. Unless she was totally wrong—and, heck, it was possible—the swirling purple and blue pyramids meant the Hollow was surprised and pretty angry, to boot.

With no warning, the Arrancar charged forward, snarling. She braced herself to meet the attack.

Her shikai was kind of heavy, after all. She grasped her zanpakuto tightly in a two-handed grip.

"Brawl, _Kokuyoibara_."

* * *

Renji started as the grip on his hand loosened, and the eyes of the woman he loved glazed over.

This couldn't be real. Right? Any moment Rukia would jump back up like she always had. Any moment. Any moment.

He heard a choking sob from across Rukia.

And then he realized it. Rukia was... Rukia was...

He looked up. Kaien was staring down, and he could see a tear splash down to the ground next to Rukia.

And then he found himself, ten meters away, beating the crap out of Kaien.

The idiot. The Squad Thirteen had been manipulated by some doe-eyes from a dead person... and now the person _he_ cared about was dead. Dead. _Dead_!

He rammed a fist into Kaien's face, and followed that up by one into the gut. He had the other guy pinned against a wall, and he was going to keep on doing this until Kaien's face was damned _mush_.

Another punch, and then he stopped. Kaien was no pushover. Hell, Kaien was more powerful than _he_ was. And the other lieutenant was just standing there, just taking it.

He'd left lots of bruises, but he could still see a tear roll down the other lieutenant's cheek.

Kaien had loved Rukia, too. If Kaien was even feeling a quarter of what he was feeling right now...

He... he wanted to hit something. To start punching something hard and solid until his hands broke. Let the pain distract him from this other pain. Anything. Anything else. And to get him away from this blinding rage. Aaroniero was dead, both skulls split open, so nothing going there. Kaien was in front of him, and it had been Kaien's blind stupidity that had gotten Rukia killed.

His fist clenched. He had to get out of here. He thought about this anymore, and he was going to murder Kaien.

And he was pretty sure Kaien would just let him.

Ugh.

He rocked a bit on his feet. Some spiritual pressure had just slammed into him. Powerful energy. Hold a second.

He suddenly remembered why he, Rukia, and Kaien were here, in the Rukongai. Hueco Mundo was attacking. They had gotten here to act as reserves, until the damned Espada had attacked and everything had gone to hell.

He felt something boiling hot in his chest again, as he looked towards the east. Arrancar had killed Rukia. There were more in that direction. More than enough that he could dive into them and let his mind go numb from battle reflexes. So he couldn't think about right now.

Kill. Kill them all.

He stalked over to his zanpakuto and picked it up from the ground. He turned to face Kaien Shiba.

"Stay here," he spat. "That's the least you could do."

He couldn't tell if Kaien had heard him, since the other lieutenant was still staring at nothing, unfocused, and weeping. Part of him wanted to do the same, just sit there and cry. But...

He had things to kill.

"Bankai!" he roared. "_Hihio Zabimaru_!"

His blade seemed to explode, lengthening and thickening and growing a fanged snake's head. The mouth at the end opened and let out a screeching howl.

Huh. He noticed he was also screaming. Just one big, wordless bellow of pain and rage. His spiritual pressure was buckling some of the buildings around him.

Rukia has said that she had loved him.

Still screaming, he flash-stepped up into the sky and started heading east.

* * *

Momo couldn't be completely sure, but it looked like the Arrancar had multiplied.

She shook her head and turned to one of the analysts. "These numbers have been cross-checked?

"Yes, Lieutenant Hinamori. We've done our best to filter out the immense energy from Unohana and Captain Zaraki, and the data suggests that there has been a net increase in spiritual energy not explained by the arrival of Seireitei reinforcements."

"Thank you, Ninth Seat," she said to officer distractedly. Okay, so there _were_ more Arrancar, somehow. But why, and, more importantly, how? Captain Aizen had reported that the entry Garganta had been neutralized by kido. So how?

Think, think! She was here, seeing the bigger picture. The information derived from the raw data would be, ultimately, up to her. But what parts? What was important? What wasn't? What was true and what was misinformation from the enemy? What conclusions could be derived from the data. Which hypotheses should be rejected and which should be presented to the battling captains?

It was too much. Too much was on her shoulder! She was just a lieutenant!

"Ma'am!" she heard a voice call. "New data in. The Arrancar reishi is shifting position!"

She closed her eyes for a brief moment, and took a few slow, deep breaths. Yes, she was only a lieutenant. Captain Aizen had known that, yet had still ordered her to take this responsibility. And Toshiro had agreed.

They were both smart men. If they agreed that she was up to the task, who was she to disagree?

She opened her eyes.

"Get me vectors on their movement patterns and try to get me an estimated plan of movement," she said to the speaker.

"Yes, Lieutenant!"

She studied the large monitor screen, constantly being updated as data flowed in. Wait a moment.

"What is the range of the Garganta-destroying kido?" she called.

"It disrupts all Garganta-type gateways approximately half a kilometer from deployment, Lieutenant," one of the technicians answered.

"Request Stealth Force scouts to comb in a one kilometer radius from the reported Garganta. Ignore the eastwardly approach." Unohana wouldn't attempt to open a new Garganta closer to Seireitei, right? Her call, and she was making it.

She frowned. Hold a moment. Unohana would doubtless detect the kido's area of affect, if for no reason that a Garganta would be unable to open within that area. The renegade Soul Reaper would know that the Seireitei would expect a Garganta formation near the border of the spell. Also, the Arrancar had their Sonìdo, which would eat up kilometers quickly. No, the Garganta wouldn't be close, even though it was intuitive that it would be.

"Cancel that!" she shouted. "Request patrols to sweep a _past_ the one kilometer mark, and no closer."

She saw some of the analysts look up in confusion for a few moments before they went to their tasks.

She swallowed. She'd been worried that they would question the order. She wasn't Captain Aizen, after all.

The requests went out, and a few brief moments later the markers representing Stealth Force scouts began to fan outward on screen. They moved rapidly, but then slowed down as they passed the one kilometer border. Good. Captain Soifon was heeding her advice. She studied the readout, waiting for—

One of the Stealth Force icons began to flash. "Report!" she barked.

"Ma'am, a Garganta has been located! Scouts are encountering heavy resistance from Arrancar defenders. Uh... approximately fifty of the clones, and about a dozen of the regular Arrancar."

So they'd located the ingress for Hueco Mundo, and if they could collapse it, they'd cut off the Arrancar again. Or... if they could secure it, they might even be able to assault through into Hueco Mundo! But no, those orders would definitely overstep her authority. She studied the tactical screen more. The icons for Captains Komamura, Tosen, Zaraki and Kuchiki were in close contact with the Arrancar forces, with Captain Ichimaru hanging back for support. She watched the markers representing Captain Aizen and Toshiro move in flanking attack, after having penetrated the Arrancar lines to shut down the Garganta. It was more of a harassing action, though, since the tactical strike teams didn't have the manpower to become seriously engaged. Yes, yes, Toshiro and her captain were very powerful, but they had no idea on how many Espada were in the area. It was entirely possible that the two of them could get pinned down while Arrancar not already fighting the other captains could swarm in and possibly kill them. She was pretty sure that with Unohana's and Zaraki's incredible spiritual pressure being thrown around that _Kyoka Suigetsu_'s hypnosis might be spotty, along with everything else.

She tore her eyes from the screen and got the attention of one of the Counter Reversal Force couriers. "Relay a message to Captain Aizen and Captain Hitsugaya. Inform them of the location of the Garganta and the forces distributed around it."

"Right away, ma'am," the agent said, and departed.

Nodding, she turned to one of the squad members handling communications.

"Attempt to raise the reserve teams holding station in the Rukgonai area," she said. "Let Lieutenant Shiba and Lieutenant Kusajishi that they might be needed in a bit."

"On it, Lieutenant," the analyst said. "I'll dispatch a—"

"Ma'am!" another of her team shouted in shock. Huh? What was going on? "Multiple Arrancar power signatures have just appeared in the rear area. Reports are coming in; Squad Thirteen and Squad Eleven reserves are engaged with the enemy!"

Her mouth dropped open for a second before she regained her composure and clopped it shut.

"Enemy strength?" she asked calmly. Just like she always saw Captain Aizen do.

"Too early to tell, Lieutenant. From the looks of it, it's either a big Arrancar group, or it has some powerful Arrancar, possibly an Espada, thrown into the mix." The analyst looked unhappy. "Or both."

"Have the Squads reacted?"

"It doesn't seem like it, ma'am. With all the energy Unohana and Captain Zaraki are spitting out, and at that distance, I wouldn't be surprised if no one noticed it at all."

She thought for a moment. "All right. Send a message to... Captain Ichimaru." Squad Three was nominally the furthest back, and the squad not heavily engaged with the enemy. "Advise him of the situation, and request a detachment of reinforcements to the outer Rukon district, if he wouldn't mind. And... send a copy to Captain Aizen, as well."

How had the Hollows managed to slip in like that? Unless they had suppressed their energy almost completely, and literally not bothered a soul on the way in, they should have been detected.

Ah! Never mind the how. They had to figure that out, _after_ this battle was over

Nodding to herself, she turned back to the readouts, studying them closely.

"All right," she said with as much strength and confidence as she could muster. "Team Four, I need you assisting..."

Captain Aizen and Toshiro were relying on her. She wouldn't fail them. She _couldn_'_t_.

* * *

That couldn't be right.

Byakuya frowned as he felt a surge of spiritual energy come from the east. He could barely make out anything in the dusky gloom, especially with Unohana and that madman Zaraki throwing out the brilliant light of their reishi, but from what he could make out, something huge and sinuous was moving towards them rapidly.

Hmm.

He clutched the hilt of _Senbonzakura_ and made a beckoning gesture with it. A moment later the glittering blade shards of his shikai swirled around him, called back from their attack on the Arrancar.

The power being emitted by the battling Unohana and Zaraki was practically stifling to the rank-and-file Soul Reapers, and even he had to admit that fighting near it for too long started to make him a bit uncomfortable.

Well, he would not admit it out _loud_, save to Hisana, and perhaps Rukia and Renji.

But, in any case, it was madness to have the Squads in too close when engaging the Arrancar, who, he noted, seemed to be weathering the spiritual assault better than the Soul Reapers. In fact, they were working in rotation, moving Soul Reapers out when they were tired or were beginning to be overwhelmed by the reishi maelstrom. Right now he was letting his unit recover while Tosen and Komamura locked blades with the Hollows.

He squinted towards the east, letting his senses drift. He did have an acute awareness of spiritual energy, and even with the violence being unleashed by Unohana and the Squad Eleven captain, he could just barely make out—

Wait. No. That had to be wrong. The oncoming force of spiritual pressure had the same signature—smell or taste, if one wanted to apply an analogy—as Renji's, but boiling higher than he had ever felt. It was significantly higher than when Renji had first unleashed bankai and had fought against him in an effort to protect Rukia.

Hmm. The huge form had moved closer, and he could barely make out the distinct outline of _Hihio Zabimaru_. So it _was_ Renji, only... stronger, somehow.

That also begged the question is _why_. He had requested Lieutenant Shiba to relay orders to his own lieutenant. Renji was to stay in the Rukongai and act as a reserve force.

And, as an added bonus, he would have two strong lieutenants keeping watch on Rukia. Which made him wonder—a bit angrily—as to why his lieutenant had abandoned his post.

He heard a faint tinkling sound near his left hand. Hmm? A hell butterfly, fluttering about in distress in reaction to the massive battle going on. He extended his hand, and the little message insect settled onto his fingertips. Ah. A high priority message from Captain Aizen's lieutenant. Sounded urgent. There were—

_There were Arrancar in the Rukongai_.

He felt a chill settle onto his heart as his eyes flew open and focused on Renji. Arrancar raiders? Then why was Renji _here_ and not there?

He turned to the side.

"Fourth Seat."

"Yes, Captain Kuchiki?"

"You have command until I get back. Coordinate with Captain Komamura and captain Tosen."

"Yes, sir."

With that, he turned back to his oncoming lieutenant and flash-stepped forward to meet the young man.

"Renji," he said tightly as the other Soul Reaper drew nearer, "what in the world are you—"

And then his lieutenant simply blew past him.

He stared. Had Renji just...?

He had.

Grimacing, he gathered his energy leveled a hand at Renji.

"Bakudo sixty-three, _Sajo Sabaku_."

The golden chains flashed out and lashed around his lieutenant. Ugh. Renji was straining them to breaking. He sent more reishi into the spell and moved forward, maintaining pressure to make sure Renji didn't get closer. He was going to have answers, damn it.

As he closed, he could still see Renji straining to break through the kido, making snarling noises. He'd never heard his lieutenant like this before.

"Lieutenant Abarai," he said in an utterly serious tone, "what are you doing here?"

"Going to kill them all," Renji snapped angrily.

"We have things well in hand here, lieutenant. I need you back at the Rukon to—"

"_SHUT UP AND GET OUT OF MY WAY_!" he heard Renji scream.

Well, enough of that. He let his spiritual pressure spill out in an intimidating gesture.

"Renji, I don't care what has gone on between us, concerning Rukia or otherwise. You are _still_ my lieutenant, and you—"

"_SHE_'_S_ _DEAD_!" Renji howled.

For a second, everything around him went quiet. Like the battle had just disappeared. He could only hear the words that Renji had probably not spoken. He hadn't heard what he thought he heard, had he?

"What are you talking about? Who is—"

"_RUKIA IS DEAD_!" he heard Renji roared... and then he felt his lieutenant's spiritual energy surge again, shattering the binding spell. Renji wheeled on him and grabbed the front of his shihakusho and jerking him closer.

He saw... something in Renji's eyes. Incredible rage mixed with impossible grief, earth-shaking anger and heart rending sorrow.

He felt his stomach drop. No. It couldn't be...

"Espada and a strike force got behind us, in the Rukon District," Renji said to him, voice shaking in fury. "It would have killed us all, but Rukia got to it first. And then she died. _She_'_s dead_!"

With another mindless howl, Renji shoved him backwards before charging back towards the Arrancar forces.

He blinked. Renji's rage and grief were too real to be a mistake. The message from Lieutenant Hinamori corroborated Renji's report. And that meant Rukia was...

He'd promised Hisana, his lady wife, that he would watch over her younger sister. That he would allow no harm to come to her.

He had betrayed Hisana's trust.

Rukia Kuchiki was dead.

His mind went blank. He recalled calling back the countless blades of _Senbonzakura_ back to the sword hilt, reforming the sealed zanpakuto. Then he reversed the grip, let loose his spiritual pressure, and let the katana drop straight down.

His hands were shaking.

"Bankai," he heard himself say. It came out as a snarl. "_Senbonzakura Kageyoshi_.

"Scatter."

* * *

Nanao frowned as the sky seemed to erupt with glinting steel. That was Captain Kuchiki's bankai. Scowling, she moved her arms, switching between her shikai's screens. Ugh. Still couldn't get a good view of what was going on between Unohana and Zaraki. She could vaguely make out something... large moving around in the haze of reishi, and occasionally the figures of the two battling Soul Reapers, but other than that, nothing.

Unohana had obviously goaded Captain Zaraki into battle to generate this wild spiritual pressure which in turn helped mask the Arrancar movements from the Soul Reapers. Problem was Unohana would be in a lot of trouble if this wore on too long.

She flipped through her viewscreens. None of the Arrancar had released, which was good. A few minutes ago she had caught sight of some Squad Twelve forward teams creeping forward to deploy the reishi-dampers. She hadn't actually seen them used yet, since there was too much interference for her shikai, but she didn't like to chance it.

Gantenbainne, Cirucci, Ukitake, and most of the combat escort forces were heavily engaged with the Seireitei forces, and simple weight of numbers would start to push them back, Unohana or not.

Wait, what was that? She'd seen something flickering in the screen that was monitoring their rear area. Aizen and Hitsugaya had withdrawn after their destruction of the Garganta, as their light tactical unit would be hard pressed if the Arrancar enveloped them. After that little debacle, the Arrancar not actively engaged with the Soul Reapers were securing the rear areas and flanks while she tried to figure out how they were going to get out of this predicament. Unohana was, so that meant _something_. But if all Unohana was planning was dancing with Zaraki, then this would be a horribly insufficient rescue effort.

Which made her wonder what was happening back there. She pulled in, zooming, and saw...

She frowned. A team of about ten Soul Reapers had broken through their rear guard and were rapidly moving towards their center. Huh. She gathered up her energy, ready to fling kido spells through her shikai at the enemies. But hold a moment.

Something was strange about how the Soul Reapers were moving. They were plowing through the Arrancar in front of them, mostly Calaveras, but they seemed to be...

There was a flash of crimson and violet, and the Soul Reapers were washed away by a pair of incredibly powerful Ceros.

Ah.

She shifted the angle of her screens, and she saw Dordonii and Wonderweiss break into the rear area, followed closely by Tia and Luppi. A heavy force of Calaveras and Numeròs followed them. Hmm. Fighting must have been fierce to break through here, since Dordonii's clothing had several torn and slashed places, though she assumed the Segundo Espada's Hierro had stopped the worst damage. She could see a dark discoloration on the back of Wonderweiss' head, beneath the Arrancar's blond hair. Looked to be a serious bruise or abrasion. Tia and Luppi were in similar condition.

She manuevered her shikai out of the way and flash-stepped over to Dordonii. The mustachioed Espada bared his teeth in a grin.

"_Señorita_ Ise, I trust we are not too late?"

"You trust right," she replied curtly. Seeing as how Ukitake and Unohana were otherwise occupied and Shunsui—er, Kyoraku—was nowhere to be found, it was up to her to get the Hueco Mundo forces coordinated. Hopefully, the Espada, any of whom wouldn't have any difficulty crushing her like a bug, would listen in a battlefield situation.

She waved her hand, and her shikai changed configuration. Instead of the two dozen screens orbiting her, they formed a single plane, each showing a different angle of the battlefield. She rapidly appraised the reinforcing Arrancar of the situation.

"Tia, I'll need you to break back through the Soul Reaper flank and get us a clear line of withdrawal back to the Garganta. Could you make due with a quarter of the Calaveras?"

"Humph. We'll just need a fifth," the female Hollow said. Tia turned to the two Fracciònes flanking her. "Emilou, Cyan, gather up the clones."

"Yes, Mistress," the two Arrancar said before departing with the boom of Sonìdo.

"Dordonii, Luppi, Wonderweiss. So far we haven't been broken since Unohana and Zaraki are throwing around all that reishi, which means the Soul Reaper captains can't get close without the people under their command suffocating, but that'll change when they get tired of playing around and rush in with their bankais. We need to initiate a fighting retreat as soon as Tia opens a path for us."

"With so many of their captains here, we should focus on a strike here," she heard Wonderweiss say. "We counterattack, and we'll plow them under. The Soul Society _will_ lose captains."

She shook her head. "That's assuming you'll all be able to fight at full strength. Kurotsuchi's moments away from deploying his damping devices, and I have no idea how these will affect you."

"We already know how they'll effect us," she heard Dordonii disagree. The three of us were hit by it the last time we were here!"

"That was when they were in an unfinished state," she countered. "I have no idea what improvements and tunings Kurotsuchi has done between then and now. Please, trust me on this."

The Espada exchanged glances with each other, then nodded.

"We've had no reason to doubt your judgment so far, _Señorita_ Ise," Dordonii said to her. "Where do you need us?"

She nodded, sighing inwardly. "Ukitake and Cirucci will need to be reinforced at—"

And then an earth-shaking rumble interrupted her.

* * *

"Oh, come on!" Yachiru snapped as she swung at Boobycar. Her released zanpakuto—a massive black maul, one end backed by a sharp spike—whiffed and basically demolished a rickety house. Oops.

The Arrancar snarled something and took a swing at her with her broadsword. Not very nice. With a grunt, she dragged _Kokuyoibara_ back into line and deflected the zanpakuto off the maul's shaft.

Boobycar was off balance. Twisting her body, she angled the hammer up and punched the Hollow straight in the face with its top edge. The Arrancar stumbled back, knocking down another building. She sighed. The property damage was going to be ridiculous.

The hairs on the back of her neck stood on end as something... _screamed_. Not a pansy scream or anything, or any of Kenny's battle roars. It was pure rage, pure grief, and it sounded like... Renji?

Then a wave of powerful spiritual energy washed over her. She cocked her head in the energy's direction. Yep, that was Renji's reishi. But why—?

"You're Kusajishi, aren't you?" she heard Boobycar growl as the Hollow climbed out of the wreckage of the house. She frowned. Humph. She had been contemplating screaming Renji, and how she was distracted. Yeah, yeah, she was easy to distract—ooh, shiny!—but still.

Pouting slightly, she turned to face the Hollow. "Ooh, someone did their homework. And who are you?"

The Arrancar's eyes narrowed. "I am Franceska Mila-Rose, Fracciòn to the Tercera Espada Tia Hallibel."

Oh. So that explained why they were knocking each other around like ping-pong balls. If an Espada was so-so comparable to a captain, one of these Fracciòn thingies would be somewhere around a lieutenant.

Which was major ickiness. She might be put out by Kenny refusing to take her along, but she did have a job as a Soul Reaper lieutenant. It kind of included keeping her people safe and whomping on Hollows.

She shook her head as her train of thought got derailed by Boobycar snarling.

"Devour, _Leona_!"

Uh ohs.

* * *

Renji vaguely remembered yelling at his captain. And yelling at other captains. And yelling at lots of other people, too. The only thing he _distinctly_ remembered was lashing _Hihio Zabimaru_ forward to tear and rip into the Arrancar forces. He was careful not to have his bankai chomp down on other Soul Reapers, but he wasn't being all that careful, either. Troops were being flung and battered aside as his bankai screamed into the Arrancar ranks.

It was tough, though. Someone—or someones—was throwing an incredible amount of spiritual pressure around, and normally _Hihio Zabimaru_ would have sealed itself from the stress.

Normally. Watching Rukia die to save his and Kaien's sorry asses didn't qualify as normal. Normally Rukia wouldn't have said she loved—

He moved his arm, whipping his weapon towards the right. A clone and a normal Arrancar tried to get in close and stab at _Hihio Zabimaru_, but his weapon's jaws were too fast as it bit down and shredded them.

Not enough. He hadn't killed _nearly_ enough of them. They all had to die.

Another movement of his arm shot _Hihio Zabimaru_ forward to plow through another knot of Hollows. He noticed that he sort of... nudged Captain Komamura's bankai out of the way when he attacked, but he didn't pay attention much. Too occupied with Arrancar at the moment.

He sent his bankai careening into more and more of the Hollows, even as he heard someone yelling at him. Was it Captain Komamura? He didn't know. Or care.

He flash-stepped towards the ground, hitting hard enough that the impact created a shockwave that staggered some of the tightly engaged Soul Reapers and Arrancar. He heard more shouts. Maybe his name. Didn't care.

Red hot pain on his left shoulder. He wheeled around just as the female Arrancar reared back for a more powerful follow-up strike. He stepped inside arc of the swing, blocking the blade with the hilt of _Hihio Zabimaru_. The Hollow hissed something and tried to step back, but he moved with her and clamped his free hand to her throat. The Arrancar tried to choke something out—a release command, maybe—but he stopped that by squeezing harder.

And with a twisting jerk, he snapped the Hollow's neck.

He let the dissolving body drop, and he noticed that the Soul Reapers who'd seen were staring at him, wide-eyed. He scowled at them before sweeping his bankai in another screeching attack.

Some of the Soul Reapers were running towards him, yelling. Sounded like they were telling him to stop. Hell with that. He took a step forward, but stopped as a swirl of metal shards flowed into his way. Behind the splinters he could see his captain, just standing there.

Through the swirling metal he could see... nothing changed about Byakuya. The man was just standing there, motionless. He grit his teeth at that. What the hell kind of brother was that? To not care that Rukia was dead? Or maybe his captain simply didn't believe him? He—

Then the metal shifted again, catching the moonlight and illuminating Byakuya's face. He'd been right. Emotionless.

Almost.

He could see a faint trembling on Byakuya's lips, a slight shaking in the older man's hands. And he could see a deep, murderous fury in Byakuya's eyes.

He and his captain just stood there for a few moments, staring at each other. Then the veil of _Sebonzakura Kageyoshi_ lifted away as Byakuya nodded coldly. The captain swept a hand outwards, and a razor-sharp wave crashed down on the withdrawing Arrancar.

He bared his teeth. He wasn't going to be going at this alone, then. Great. He moved his own arm, and _Hihio Zabimaru_ slithered forward.

Until Captain Komamura's bankai stomped down on his zanpakuto, pinning it.

* * *

Shuhei blinked as he saw _Kokujo Tengen Myoo_ plant a foot on Renji's bankai. He hadn't expected _that_ reaction. Something did have to be done, though, since Renji's inexplicable attack was throwing their ranks into disarray and opening them up to more casualties. The Arrancar were shocked by the sudden attack, and the Thirteen court Guard Squads _could_ capitalize on that and push forward quickly if it weren't for Unohana and Zaraki's battle. The immense energy—there were no signs that it would be dying away anytime soon—was still too strong for most of the troops to get closer. They were basically performing a holding action until enough of the captains could get organized enough for a simultaneous strike that would be enough to kill Unohana. Renji was just making it harder.

He frowned. Wait, no, scratch that. He could make out the glittering mass of Captain Kuchiki's shikai or bankai sweeping over the Arrancar, too.

Now he knew something was wrong. When Captain Kuchiki was as... reckless as this, there had to be—

"Shuhei!" he heard his captain shout.

He jerked instinctively, and Ukitake's blade hissed by his face close enough for him to see his reflection in the steel. Before the renegade captain could attack again, Captain Tosen had intercepted the swing and forced it away. Something large and silver blurred, and Ukitake flash-stepped away as Captain Ichimaru's bankai drove in.

He nodded in thanks to Captain Tosen and brought _Kazeshini_—in its murderous shikai form—back into a defensive position. He almost couldn't believe that a single Soul Reaper could be holding out against himself, Tetsuzaemon, and Captains Tosen, Komamura, and Ichimaru, but there you had it. Granted, he thought he could see Ukitake tiring, growing a bit more sluggish, but not winded enough for the five of them to get an advantage.

Oh, enough thinking.

He flash-stepped forward, throwing one of his scythes forward. Ukitake deflected it, but that gave him time to close in. His other blade struck out, just as Tetsuzaemon closed in from the opposite side.

Ugh! Ukitake spun quickly, knocking _Kazeshini_ away and turning to meet Tetsuzaemon. The rogue captain blocked the attack, and countered. The other lieutenant didn't quite dodge the strike, and he saw a shallow cut on Tetsuzaemon's arm. He tried to take advantage of that, but Ukitake sent a flurry of slashes at him which he just barely blocked. Then a boot rammed into his stomach and he went tumbling back. He rolled into a crouch, gasping.

Ukitake moved laterally, and then Captain Tosen was again moving, crashing into the white-haired Soul Reaper. He heard some muttering, and then a golden chain wrapped itself around Ukitake's forearms.

"Sajin! Now!" he heard his captain yell.

He turned instinctively. Captain Komamura's bankai still had Renji's pinned. The giant drew back at its arm, and then began to heave forward.

Wait. Oh, no!

"Captain!" He screamed. "Watch out!"

He watched as Captain Tosen turned, almost too slowly, to see the massive sword of _Kokujo Tengen Myoo_ whistling towards him. Just in time—barely—his captain flash-stepped out of the path of the blade.

"Sajin!" he heard his captain cry hoarsely. "What are you _doing_!"

"He's not responding to my commands!" the Squad Seven command replied with a snarl. "And he won't seal!"

Horrified, he saw the massive bankai ponderously turn to the Soul Reapers ranks.

And drive a massive sword strike down into them.

* * *

The Cero would have blown Yachiru's head off if she hadn't gotten _Kokuyoibara_ in the way to block most of it. So instead of messily killing her it just sort of knocked her through some about three and a half shacks.

Franceska tried to finish off the job by blurring up and trying to whack her head off as she slumped in the wreckage, but she binded the released Arrancar's blade with the head of her maul and tugged the Hollow off balance. Damn. Boobycar had turned the tumbled into a roll, and they were right back where they had started. She shot back to her feet just in time to sidestep a bala. She let the maul droop slightly as she raised a hand at the Hollow.

"_Shakkaho_!" she barked, and a red fireball of her own streaked at Franceska. The Hollow dispersed the hado attack with a slash of her own sword.

She leaped forward, smashing down her zanpakuto in an overhand swing. The Hollow didn't dodge it cleanly, and Boobycar stumbled from the glancing blow. She leaned back and away as Franceska punched out.

This was getting kind of ridiculous. Boobycar's release had obviously have Franceska stronger and faster. She was taking some nasty licks, and if she made a mistake bad things could happen to her face. Or pretty much any other part of her body.

Instead of trying to recover _Kokuyoibara_ from its swing, she just bulled forward, ramming a shoulder into the Hollow. There was a big _whuff_ of exhaled air as Franceska stumbled back. She followed up the body-check by ramming her shikai into the Arrancar's face, again forcing her opponent back. She whirled around, building up momentum for a punishing blow to the head, but it was deflected as Franceska threw a punishing strike right into the path of her attack. She stumbled back. So did the Hollow.

They sized each other up for a second, and then... ah! Boobycar had aimed a vicious backhand at her torso, and only with a last minute shift did she avoided.

But... Ah. Not the follow-up swing. She clutched a hand to the gash on her flank as she staggered back..

"Just give up already," she heard Franceska mutter. "You're going to die, little Soul Reaper.

The released Arrancar began to stalk forward. Ow. This hurt. Oh, heck with this. She had to finish this, or she really would die.

"Dying to a Hollow isn't on my to-do list today," she said through gritted teeth.

Bobbycar stopped walking, cocking an eyebrow. She had an opening. Do or die time. Had to make Kenny proud, and stuff.

She drew up every last bit of reishi she could muster and charged forward, swinging her zanapakuto as fast and as hard as she could. Franceska tried to block.

Too slow. The maul crashed into the Hollow's arm, and she heard an audible snap as _Kokuyoibara_ smashed through Franceska's Hierro and broke the Hollow's arm. Boobycar's sword dropped, and the Hollow stumbled to the side turning. Using the momentum, she turned another full arc and again rammed her maul into the Hollow.

This time, instead of pissy little arm bones breaking, it was the Arrancar's spine. She heard Franceska howl as the Hollow took a nosedive into the dirt.

Panting, she lifted her zanpakuto up and rested it on her shoulder as she slowly stepped towards the Hollow.

"You're just a Soul Reaper," the Hollow spat between the pained gasps. "How are you able to do this?"

She thought for a second. Good question, sort of. What kind of answer did she have? Had to be dramatic and loud and stuff.

Or...

For some reason she thought of the first time she had met Kenny, literally toddling in bloody mud as Kenny had killed a dozen men that had ambushed him. She remembered giggling at the red mess, and then snuggling into Kenny's blood-spattered clothing. She remembered becoming a Soul Reaper—officially—and running along helping Kenny kill Hollows while she wasn't much more than a kid. Wow, now that she actually thought about it, it was kind of messed up, wasn't it?

She gave a little laugh.

"How?" she said. "I had a poor upbringing."

Then she levered _Kokuyoibara_ up and over, punching its spike into Franceska's chest.

* * *

**Notes updated**


	26. Chapter 20: In Death Ground

**_DOWNFALL_**

by

Greg Wong

* * *

**Chapter 20: In Death Ground**

* * *

Gin frowned as he saw Komamura's bankai inexplicably turn and take a chunk out of the Soul Reaper battle line. Uh, what?

He recalled _Kamishini no Yari_, not quite pointing it at the enormous bankai. He, in all honesty, was at a loss of what to do. He had no idea if this was a result of enemy action or if Komamura had finally had one tasteless dog joke too many. If the former, he had to figure out what the hell was causing this. A bankai should _not_ be able to be suborned. If the latter, well, he could quickly run to the Rukongai and grab some juicy bones or something. Or... _put_ _down_ the Squad Seven captain.

But, seriously, he was... well, he was distracted by this bizarre turn of events. Without him keeping a constant flurry of sniping attacks, Ukitake had been able to move freely, and the enemy Soul Reaper was slowly moving back towards the Arrancar lines. He grimaced at that. Without him bracketing Ukitake and Kaname and Komamura keeping up the pressure, Ukitake was going to have time to recuperate. Or just plain leave.

He made a face. It was unavoidable now. Might as well see what he could do about Komamura. He turned to his side, where one of his squad's runner stood ready to relay messages.

"Locate Lieutenant Kira, and have him and the rest of Squad Three withdraw from out of the range of Captain Komamura's bankai." That was going to open up gaps in their lines. Then again, if they got squashed by _Kokujo Tengen Myoo_ it would result in the same thing, just with more bodies.

The real problem about the whole matter was the simple scale of the released zanpakuto. The only other bankais that close to its size were, perhaps, Kurotsuchi's _Konjiki __Ashisogi Jizo_ or Lieutenant Abarai's _Hihio Zabimaru_. And, since Komamura's bankai was currently stepping on Abarai's and not even noticing it, well, he wasn't holding his breath about any sort of fight that could take place. He wasn't even sure how many direct strikes from _Kamishini no Yari_ it would take to put the berserking bankai down, if it could at all.

Although... if he crippled it, it would give the other Soul Reapers time to get out of its range. Hmm. Would a bankai have an Achilles tendon?

Well, one way to find out. He aimed carefully, settling the plane of his zanpakuto in line with the back of the giant's ankle. He took a breath, gathered his spiritual energy into his bankai... and let it loose at _Kokujo Tengen Myoo_.

Almost instantly he felt something strike his blade, deflecting it. What in the world? He squinted down trying to see... Kaname?

His friend had deflected his attack! As his bankai came slithering back to its shortened form, he raised a hand to his side and called up a _Tentaikura _spell. A moment later Kaname's face appeared within the kido window.

"Er, Kaname?" he said plaintively. "I'm not quite sure—"

"Do not attack!" the other captain shouted back at him, cutting him off. Oh? Kaname wasn't in the habit of shouting.

He dropped his voice an octave. "Kaname, troops are going to die unless—"

"We'll take care of it," Kaname cut in, again. And here he thought his friend was the polite sort. "Do _not_ attack. Any injury inflicted on the bankai will be reflected on Sajin!"

He blinked as he snapped off the communications spell. If that was right, that meant Komamura's bankai was not only incredibly powerful, it was also incredibly vulnerable. You had immense destructive power when you were thirty storeys tall, but that also gave you the heart the size of a small house.

He know he should override Kaname's request and still attempt a to incapacitate Komamura's bankai. Ah. No. Blindness notwithstanding, he was going to have to trust his friend.

But why oh why did he have such a bad feeling about this?

This was bad. Very bad.

Shuhei picked a Squad Seven trooper up bodily and heaved the man through the air as Captain Komura's rogue bankai struck the earth. He managed to flash-step out from under the blade, but the shockwave of the massive impact picked him up and tossed him a few dozen paces further.

Oof.

He managed to clear the stars out of his vision in time to see the giant reach down and grasp Renji's bankai behind its skeletal head. _Hihio Zabimaru_ hissed at _Kokujo Tengen Myoo_ as it yawned its mouth open at the larger bankai. Was Renji...?

There was a blinding burst of red light, and he watched as Renji's bankai belched crimson energy at Captain Komamura's. The giant silently took the blast, drawing back its sword.

And then it decapitated Renji's bankai. Damn. A single hit.

The skeleton snake fell to the ground in pieces, but a few moments later he saw red lightning arcing between the segments. Hmm. He'd heard of that before. Renji was trying to reconstitute the weapon.

Not fast enough!

The giant disdained the neutralized bankai and started lumbering towards the withdrawing Soul Reapers, sometimes halting its thumping steps to strike down towards the earth. The bankai was so huge that even its slow, ponderous steps covered enough ground that some of the slower troops wouldn't be able to get away fast enough.

Damn.

He shot back to his feet and flash-stepped _towards_ the oncoming behemoth, catching an exhausted-looking young woman by the collar before gathering his energy and flash-stepping away. He spared a glance behind. A few dozen meters back and the Soul Reaper he was carrying would have been stomped to paste.

Well, here was far enough. He dumped the Soul Reaper to the ground—he really, _really_ didn't have the time to be gentle right now—and headed back towards the rampaging bankai. He passed up Captain Komura, only a few dozen meters away from the bankai's path. Looked like the Squad Seven captain was actually staring the bankai down.

He watched Komamura raise his blade at the giant, right before he felt a sharp, heavy slap of spiritual pressure as the captain released more energy. "You _will_ obey, damn you!"

He looked back at _Kokujo Tengen Myoo_. The bankai had actually flinched, and even when it recovered its movements had slowed considerably. Komamura was wrestling with whatever was making _Kokujo Tengen Myoo_ go berserk, and he was pretty sure the captain would win. Eventually.

They really didn't have much of an eventually.

The bankai heaved towards them again, and, hell, it was drawing back its sword for another attack. He grimaced. Too many Soul Reapers were still in range.

He blurred forward, literally throwing two troops over his shoulder as he gathered his energy for another flash-step. A few meters off he saw Tetsuzaemon engaging two Arrancar clone soldiers that had broken through, trying to hit the fleeing Soul Reapers in the back.

Moonlight glinted. Oh, crap. The sword was coming down! Pouring every ounce of energy into his flash-step, he raced forwards, not even bothering to look behind. Come on, come on, come—

He tumbled head over heels, bouncing for several meters before coming to a stop.

Oh, that had been _close_. With a grunt, he pushed the two dazed junior Soul Reapers he'd been lugging off himself. Peering upwards, he saw that _Kokujo Tengen Myoo_ had frozen in place, or something. Whatever the case, it wasn't trying to step on them at the moment.

The giant's sword had literally come within meters this time. He'd been lucky. He—

He blinked. In the furrow the sword had dug when it came smashing down, he saw a handful of bodies—well, not really bodies, but reddish, chunky smears—that had once been Soul Reapers too slow to make it out from under the attack.

Near one of the smears, he saw Tetsuzaemon's shikai, one hand still gripping it. Everything else was... gone.

And then he was almost driven to his knees as Captain Komamura's spiritual pressure increased, and an enraged howl split the night.

* * *

_Minazuki_'s claws flashed down, and Retsu saw Kenpachi deflect the strikes with an almost lazy flick. The captain slipped forward, inside of her shikai's reach, and moved to slice open its belly.

She wasn't going to be having any of that. She flash-stepped forward, throwing an elbow into Kenpachi's ribs. The attack interrupted Kenpachi's own, and the other Soul Reaper's blade only scored a deep cut in _Minazuki_'s flank, not the intended eviscerating slash.

Her blow had been hasty, and skilled and strong as she was, she didn't have the raw physical power or mass to deal a serious blow at this angle. Kenpachi rocked back from the blow, pivoted on the ball of his foot, and aimed a chop at her neck.

_Minazuki_'s claws intercepted the attack with the sound of steel meeting bone, and her shikai attempted to spear the captain with its other paw. She saw the captain try to move up an arm to batter the oncoming claws away, but she prevented _that_ by moving in and trapping Kenpachi's arm in a lock. Kenpachi tried to wrench himself out of her grip, but she crouched lower, offsetting the man's center of gravity, and _Minazuki_'s strike came streaking in.

Just before the claws hit, she felt Kenpachi redistribute his reishi, moving it from his zanpakuto and sword arm to the left side of his body. No! She sent her own spiritual energy crackling down onto the captain's body, seeking to disrupt the shield Kenpachi was trying to form, but too late!

Her zanpakuto's talons raked into Kenpachi's flank and shoulder. But instead of tearing open the other Soul Reaper's body, _Minazuki_'s claws only scored thin wounds as Kenpachi's fierce reishi resisted most of the attack's force. The strike glanced off, and as her shikai recovered from the deflection, Kenpachi moved in a counter her lock.

Humph. She moved in a counter of her own, but then the man _countered_ that counter. She wouldn't be able to keep up with that complicated maneuver, again because she lacked the raw strength and weight to prevent Kenpachi from breaking her hold. She might have kept her grip with yet another counter, but Kenpachi had a sword in one hand, and she didn't. She wasn't going to contest the lock only to have her head struck from her shoulders. She relinquished her grip, and good thing, too, since the captain's zanpakuto came whistling at her face. She ducked beneath it. A heartbeat later, and she would have lost the upper quarter of her skull.

Kenpachi moved against her, but her bellowing shikai had recovered and rushed at her opponent's back. She watched the captain wheel around, snarl something, and hurl lightning at _Minazuki_. Her zanpakuto flinched as the kido spell burst across its face, and Kenpachi leapt, arrowing in a stab at the beast's face.

"_Danku_!" she snapped, and a barrier flashed into existence a few centimeters in front of her shikai. The shield turned the incoming blow, but only barely, and it shattered at the moment of impact.

She rushed forward, but Kenpachi had already hit the ground and slammed a shoulder, hard, into _Minazuki_. Her zanpakuto shuffled backwards, snorting loudly. As her shikai stumbled, Kenpachi reversed directions and came back her way. She saw a grimace plastered across the captain's face.

She gathered spiritual energy, sent it flowing through her hands as she brought them up. "Hado fifty-eight,_ Tenran_!"

The violent gale slammed into Kenpachi, and the male Soul Reaper stumbled. Only slightly, but enough that her shikai had precious moments to recover and come barreling back again for more.

Kenpachi flash-stepped away from her zanpakuto. She pursued and called forth kido energy into her hands.

"Bakudo sixty-two! _Hyapporankan_!" A violet rod sprang into existence in her hands, but instead of hurling it as usual, she whirled the spell like a stave, deflecting the captain's zanpakuto off of it. The bakudo spell had fractured slightly—a zanpakuto would always trump a makeshift weapon like this kido artifact—but it held up enough that she was able to parry Kenpachi's swing... and then ram the spell into the man's stomach.

She poured an incredible amount of spiritual energy into the _Hyapporankan _rod so as to be able to pierce Kenpachi's sheathing energy, but even so, it did no direct damage. It did pin Kenpachi up against a rock she's cornered him into, and her zanpakuto descended, roaring, onto the captain.

Until Kenpachi, with a snarl, shattered the rod in half, spun, and sank his own zanpakuto up to the hilt into _Minazuki's_ chest.

* * *

Rangiku felt... well, not naked. Actually, if anything, she felt overdressed.

Okay, sure, she'd had the presence of mind to bring her _Haineko_ with her, disguised as a package. That one run-in with the Arrancar told her that even on days off she still had to be wary.

Zanpakuto or not, she still wasn't in uniform—she was wearing a real spiffy yukata—and she especially didn't have her lieutenant's badge. Plus she'd done her hair up and put on a little more makeup than usual. Which was why the knot of Soul Reapers fighting off the attack at the Garganta had given her looks ranging from confused to dirty.

Luckily, some Squad Ten members recognized her before some of Soifon's gang of ninjas could... eject her. That wouldn't have been very good.

Well, it would have been _worse_. The situation wasn't good. Despite this being her day off, she was the ranking person here, which put her in command. She wasn't up to date with all the tactical data and all, so she was going to have to play this by ear until she got more info.

Shaking her head, she turned to a weary-looking Stealth Force scout who had flash-stepped to her side.

"How's our flank looking?" she asked tiredly. The last attack had been the hardest yet, and they'd barely driven it off. A large number of the skull-heads had literally swarmed in and thrown themselves onto the Soul Reapers' swords, leaving the normal Arrancar to assault while they were trying to get untangled. Luckily, she'd had called up a dust shield from _Haineko_ to run interference for the troops while they got back into formation. It had been a near thing, though, and five Soul Reapers had been killed during that attack versus about twelve clones and a pair of the regular Arrancar.

"We had about two of the clones try to scout it, but my men ran them down and eliminated them," the trooper replied. "I'd like to push another two hundred meters out so we have a wider net."

Hmm. The flank to their east was "anchored" by a set of rocky hills, making travel from that direction tough but not impossible. She'd ordered some people stationed up on the tallest hillock to give them advanced warning of a ground rush. The Hollows _could_ just take to the air and go over the hills, but the skirmisher teams she had there had a clear, easy shot at their stomachs as they passed overhead. On top of that, for all of their mindless efficiency and lack of self-perseveration, the clones weren't all that good with aerial combat.

So, no she wasn't worried about the eastern approach. She was worried about the west and south. It was flat and grassy, making it both easy for the Arrancar to pass through and easy to hide in as they approached. She didn't have the manpower to simply stretch out their line to cover the northwest, since she knew the main Arrancar assault would be coming from the north, where Nanao and Ukitake and whatever else had gathered. She diverted forces to watch the west, the main Arrancar army would punch right through them. To the south was the actual Garganta. It had been quiet so far, and she guessed it was going to stay that way, but she had to have people watching it, regardless.

"Extend out another hundred meters," she said. She wanted a larger skirmishing screen, but not so much that the scouts could be picked off one by one. "You get attacked by a large force, fire a kido signal into the air."

"Yes, Lieutenant Matsumoto," the agent said before flash-stepping away.

She took a deep breath, passing _Haineko_ back and forth between her hands. She hadn't worn a proper sash, dang it all, so she couldn't put the sheath in its normal place. And she had to stop fidgeting. Fidgeting was bad. Had to focus on things. Tactics! Yeah, like tactics. She wasn't quite the strategist like Nanao or Momo or her captain were, but she'd at least like to think she was good at her job. Plus Gin was pretty sharp, too, and he'd passed on tips to her.

She shivered a bit. How _was_ Gin? Her lover was up north, right in the middle of that mess. Gin was a good fighter and a good commander, and she had all kinds of confidence in his abilities, but, still, she couldn't shake that little bit of worry. Like her worry over Sachi Takeuchi. She had this terrible sinking feeling that she wasn't going to see the seventh seat ever again.

Okay, _why_ was she thinking this? As if war itself wasn't morbid enough already, here she was, making it worse. Gin would have a laughing fit if she told him about this, although afterwards she'd get a nice massage—or a snuggle—and an open ear as she bled off her nerves. It wasn't as if—

She jerked as a sudden wave of spiritual pressure—distinct from the Unohana-Zaraki routine going in the background—slapped into her. Powerful. Arrancar.

Dammit. _Espada_.

"Here they come!" she yelled, settling out of her crouch as she heard the rest of the Soul Reapers form up on her in a more or less neat formation. She gripped _Haineko _harder.

* * *

"Lieutenant, the Arrancar have hooked back to their entry Garganta in strength, and are engaging the skirmishers," Momo heard one of the analysts report. "They're reporting at least one Espada-level Arrancar present, and they'll have to concede the gateway to the enemy in half an hour if reinforcements do not show up."

She frowned. The guards in the immediate vicinity of the Garganta had all been killed, but the Soul Reapers' manpower was still spread thin since a small force still had to monitor the Garganta itself. And now this. "Any units in the vicinity able to be diverted?"

"None, Ma'am. They were called forward when Captain Komamura's bankai began its rampage, and the units held in reserve in the Rukon District are engaged in heavy building-to-building fighting."

The two completely unexpected occurrences had reversed the steady advance of the Soul Reaper forces and given back the momentum to the Arrancar. Thankfully, the Hollows didn't seem aware of the incidents, or were unwilling to force an engagement. Either way, the Arrancar didn't seem to be counterattacking and thus causing more damage to the Seireitei forces.

Unfortunately, though, the Arrancar had secured an escape route, and things still looked too chaotic for the Squads to close off their exit. The only intact mobile forces that could conceivably break contact with the enemy were Captain Aizen's and Toshiro's.

"Make contact with Captain Aizen and Captain Hitsugaya," she called out. "Advise them of the situation, and tell them I suggest that they move their units to block off the Arrancar Garganta."

As it stood, the squads were in too much disarray to remount their assault on the Arrancar. With a way out, it the Hollows would be able to withdraw back to Hueco Mundo with their way unopposed. _However_, if her captain and Toshiro could stonewall the Arrancar column outside of their Garganta, that should buy the other squads enough time to reorganize and launch an assault into the Arrancar rear area. And if _that_ happened, there was a high chance they could completely eliminate the Arrancar incursion. With such heavy losses, the Soul Society might even a chance an attack into Hueco Mundo, for a change. That, of course, was predicated on—

"Lieutenant Hinamori, we can't open a communications spell to either of the captains," one of the troops said. "Too much interference from Unohana and Captain Zaraki. Hell butterflies can't get close enough either. The same reishi is killing them before they can make contact."

Her mind whirled through that. "Options? Can we open a channel to the Soul Reapers outside the immediate effects of the battle and have them relay a message?"

She saw the man shake his head. "No, we can't. We've tried, actually, once our attempts to reach Captain Aizen and Captain Hitsugaya failed. My best guess is that the teams holding the Garganta are too occupied to accept a communications, or that the Garganta's reishi is itself disrupting our spell. The range is a bit extreme for a _Tenteikura_."

"And the forces in the Rukongai would be likewise occupied," she said, half to herself. There had to be some way... ah-hah! Isane.

"Can we raise Lieutenant Kotetsu's unit? They should be far enough away that the interference should be minimal, and they shouldn't be engaged with the Arrancar."

"Not possible, Lieutenant," another of her team spoke up from across the room. "The Soul Reaper main battle forces have suffered significant casualties, so Lieutenant Kotetsu's forces moved forward to form a forward triage unit. They're too close to Unohana."

Ugh. Those options were out. She could summon a Reversal Counter Force courier, but fast as they were, the message would reach Captain Aizen too late, and the forces picketing the Garganta would be broken.

She swallowed.

"Send an order out to Teams Seven, Five, Three, and Two. Have them assemble outside the barracks and be ready to move out in five minutes. I will lead a relief force to the new Garganta and reinforce the defending units there, as well as send out a messenger to Captain Aizen. Fifth Seat, take command of the analysis teams and continue gathering and processing intelligence." She saw the team looking at her closely. Would they follow her? She was only a lieutenant. And—

"On it, Lieutenant!" several voices said, and Squad Five moved to follow her orders.

A tiny, tiny bit of apprehension bled away. At least the squad would listen to her in the absence of Captain Aizen, and it was a good feeling. Meant they trusted her.

She stole a glance at one of the clocks. Hmm. If they pushed themselves hard, she and her force could make it to the Garganta in a little under twenty minutes.

Hopefully there would still be Soul Reapers there to greet her. Otherwise...

* * *

"Damnation!" Retsu hissed as she saw Kenpachi fatally wound her shikai. She saw the captain twist his sword viciously, buried up to its guard in her zanpakuto's body.

_Minazuki_ wailed in anguish, exploding into a cloud of green mist. The fog consolidated into her sealed zanpakuto, where it clattered to the ground in front of the captain. Kenpachi turned to face her.

Just in time to receive a double-fisted blow straight to the face. She poured every ounce of force into that strike, and she heard something crunch in the vicinity of the man's nose. Blood sprayed, and Kenpachis staggered back a bit from the shock.

She couldn't let up. With a shout, she drew back her left arm and dropped a vicious chop onto Kenpachi's forearm, aiming for a pressure point. If she couldn't make Kenpachi lose a grip on his sword, she could be in trouble.

A good hit. She saw Kenpachi's arm twitch ever so slightly, and she grabbed the end of the hilt in one hand and the blade in her other. She applied as much spiritual pressure as she could muster into her extremity, so it wouldn't be lopped off, but she still felt the jagged blade slice into her flesh.

But she had enough leverage, and Kenpachi was dazed, if only for a moment.

With a cry, she wrenched the captain's zanpakuto out of his grip and flung it away.

Kenpachi took offense at that and immediately took a swing at her. She deflected the blow over her head, slamming her hip into Kenpachi's thigh. She snagged the captain's other arm and tugged downwards. Off balance, her opponent tumbled to the ground. She had to get to _Minazuki_!

She gathered her reishi and flash-stepped forward, reaching for her blade. Her fingers closed around its hilt—she immediately felt how weak it was from the blow Kenpachi had dealt it—and she brought the nodachi into high guard position.

What was that brown thing heading for her face—

Ah!

Something slammed into her, knocking _Minazuki_ from her hands and sending her tumbling. Chunks and splinters of stone pattered to the earth around her? Humph. Apparently Kenpachi had impressive aim when it came to hurling small boulders. She blinked, look for her sword. Hmm. There.

She flash-stepped towards, only to divert at the last moment as Kenpachi interdicted her with a flash-step of his own. This time Kenpachi led off with a quick snap kick. She sidestepped the attack, responding with a kick aimed at Kenpachi's stationary knee. She heard the captain grunt, and her own strike was deflected as the man's kicking leg recovered and he twisted, causing her blow to glance off.

Kenpachi moved forward to grapple. Ugh. That was a situation she did not want to find herself in. She could wear down Kenpachi from arm's length, thanks to her being faster and more agile, but the moment the captain came to grips with her the man's superior strength would turn the tables.

The other Soul Reaper threw a clumsy blow at her, which she dodged easily. She almost followed up with a counterattack, but no, she knew a feint when she saw it. She heard the captain snarl something at her, immediately recovering from the seemingly awkward blow and come rushing straight for her.

A _Sokatsui_ spell came burning towards her face, which she only managed to deflect with a hasty _Enkosen_ shield. She took a running leap, and just barely cleared Kenpachi as the captain bulled past underneath her. She recovered faster, and just as Kenpachi turned she threw an elbow at the man's trachea, hoping to rupture it. Kenpachi twisted just a moment too soon, and her blow slid along the side of his neck.

Which left her in a very untenable position.

Kenpachi immediately grappled, which she hurriedly countered. The captain wouldn't let up, and continued with more lock attempts and grabs. Damn. It was taking practically all her effort to keep from getting grappled that her counterblows and strikes, while well-aimed, were ultimately ineffective. Kenpachi was simply taking the hits as he tried to grab her. The captain could afford it. All it took for her was a simple—

She missed a block.

There was a flurry of movement, and suddenly she found her opponent behind her, an arm jammed up against her throat.

And then Kenpachi started to squeeze.

* * *

"Captain Aizen! Captain Hitsugaya!" Toshiro heard a voice call out. "I have a message from Squad Five Lieutenant Hinamori!"

Momo? Something was so urgent his friend had dispatched a courier all the way out here? He also noticed that the young man heading towards them was a Squad Five Soul Reaper, not the usual Reversal Counter Force agent. Something was amiss here.

He caught the eyes of his fourth seat, who nodded and took over organizing the tactical troops. He and Aizen were harassing and probing the Arrancar flanks, distracting the Arrancar so the debacle with Komamura's bankai could be resolved. And, if they could find a chink in the Arrancar lines to divide their forces in two, so much the better.

It was hard going, though. With the interference from Unohana and Zaraki, he and Aizen weren't able to use their shikais to their fullest extent. It also seemed Captain Soifon, who was going deeper around the Arrancar rear area, was having trouble as well. He knew _Hyorinmaru_ seemed a little sluggish at times, but he had to wonder about the Squad Five Captain's _Kyoka Suigetsu_. Could you only partially hypnotize someone? Half convince them?

In any case, the Arrancar had repelled their scouting attempts—again—and he and Captain Aizen were trying to scout out another point to attack. Soifon and a team of Stealth Force were assisting, as well, but even so, they weren't having much progress.

Until, of course, this messenger showed up.

"Report," he said tersely. He heard someone walk up next to him. Aizen.

"Sir. Lieutenant Hinamori's analysis team had concluded that the Arrancar are beginning a fighting withdrawal back through the second Garganta."

He nodded, beckoning for the man to continue. It made sense. The Arrancar were holding their flanks so fiercely so he and Aizen couldn't get close enough to see a retreat. Still, after finding it, Soifon had parked a team of Squad Two troops on top of the Garganta, which should be enough to resist Arrancar until Soul Reaper reinforcements could be redirected to the gate.

He was half-tempted to float the idea to Aizen that they should just let the Arrancar withdraw. The Espada were concentrated with the main force just now beginning their retreat, and losses would be heavy if they went at them. Yes, he was fairly sure they would win, but casualties were casualties.

Still, if the forward Arrancar advance could be held up at the Garganta for a bit, the captains could relocate away from the Hollows' main body—and the Espada—and take them apart piece by piece.

"Lieutenant Hinamori also discovered that an Espada is present among the force attempting to retake the Garganta. The forces there estimated they only had about thirty minutes before their lines were broken and the Arrancar secured their escape route."

His eyes widened. If that was true, they had _no__time_. If the courier had been dispatched from the Seireitei, they wouldn't make it before the Espada there cracked the defenses wide open. He—

"With that information Lieutenant Hinamori assembled a small force and moved immediately to reinforce the Garganta defenders. She dispatched me to find you as soon as we arrived."

His blood went cold. Momo was on the battlefield. Facing an _Espada_!

He had to go! _Now_!

"Forces, follow as well as you can!" he heard himself roar. He faintly heard Aizen echoing his commands to the Squad Five teams.

But then he was flash-stepping away.

* * *

Gin cocked an eyebrow as he saw Komamura leap into the air, hurtling towards _Kokujo Tengen Myoo_. After Lieutenant Iba's unfortunate, rather messy demise, the Squad Seven captain had quit trying to wrestle his bankai under control and was doing... something? Maybe if Komamura got close enough he would be able to exert more control over it?

Movement. He snapped his zanpakuto around, jabbing its tip at an Arrancar clone thing that had broken through the Soul Reaper lines.

Shoot to kill, _Shinso_.

With the mental command, his zanpakuto released, ramming clear through the Hollow's head, where it promptly stopped doing Hollow-ish things, like breathing. The Soul Reapers that had been thrown out of position by the intruding Arrancar moved to retake their positions. Dangerous. _Kokujo Tengen Myoo_ had quit moving for the moment, but it only needed two meter-eating lopes to get back within range of the counterattacking Soul Reapers. He was at ground level with the rest of them, sure, but he was much faster than the rank-and-file.

He turned his gaze back at Komamura, still speeding towards the giant. Perhaps at that range Komamura could seal the bankai if he couldn't get it under control—

His eyes widened as there was the sound of a powerful impact, and _Kokujo Tengen Myoo_ actually rocked back on its heels. Had the big wolf-guy just...?

There was another massive, ringing impact, this time accompanied by the sound of squealing metal. A heartbeat later a sheet of broken armor the size of barn door crashed down to the earth a few meters away.

Why, yes, it appeared the Squad Seven captain was punching his own bankai.

There were more thunderous impacts, and the giant actually stumbled backwards. He saw that its helmet was crumpled in areas, and pieces of armor from its shoulder had been ripped off. And up, near its head, he could just barely make out Komamura battering at the bankai's face.

It was tough to tell in the moonlight, but he saw dark stains on Komamura's haori. Bloodstains? If what Kaname had said was true—and he had no reason to think otherwise since Kaname didn't seem to have a deceptive bone in his body—then every time the Squad Seven captain walloped _Kokujo Tengen Myoo _in the face he was knocking out his own teeth.

Whatever the details were, the giant wasn't an immediate threat.

"All teams!" he called. Form up on me and prepare to enforce a skirmishing line!"

There was a shout from his support teams, and moments later they were advancing, past the fighting bankai and Squad Seven captain, to form a forward battle line so the rest of the squads could get their acts together. He glanced to the rear, and noted that there didn't seem to be many Squad Seven troops. Since Squad Seven had been keeping a tight formation on their commander—and Komamura's bankai—he had a rather depressing idea as to where most of them were.

From out of the dust a half-dozen clones materialized, rushing him and his skirmishers. He sent _Shinso_ flashing out to take down two of them, but the others closed in with Sonìdo and slammed into his soldiers.

Piece of cake, though. His skirmishers had decided that a one-on-one duel was for idiots, dead people, or Kenpachi Zaraki, and ganged up on the four remaining Arrancar. One of his people suffered a deep slash to an arm. The four Arrancar suffered death. Rather nice exchange, that.

Whoa!

He stumbled as bit as the earth shook and a loud thump sounded from behind their battle line. He turned as he heard one of his troops gasped out "Captain Komamura!"

The other captain was a mess. Komamura's fur was matted with blood, and he though could see that the large Soul Reaper's snout was misshapen in places. He had a strong urge to make a quip about the psychological issues of self-inflicted injuries, but that would just be sociopathic.

"Captain Ichimaru," Komamura said to him, the words coming out mushy and slurred. "I'll try to render him unconscious, which should force him to seal. The moment I do so _I_ will be knocked out, as well. You won't have much support until Kaname reforms his forces."

He noted that Komamura didn't mention Zaraki, who was doing a little one-on-one with Unohana and causing all manners of problems, or Kuchiki, who seemed to have decided that formations were for the birds and was rampaging through the Arrancar outer lines.

There was a blast of wind, and Kaname appeared with a flash-step, moving quickly to Komamura. "No Sajin!" he heard the Squad Nine captain snap. "You've suffered enough damage already!"

"Kaname, it's the only way," he heard Komamura grunt. "Better that I suffer further injury than have _Kokujo Tengen Myoo_ inflict more casualties."

Kaname didn't seem happy with that, at all, so he spoke up. "Between the three of us we should have enough juice to restrain it with kido."

The Squad Seven captain made a negative gesture. "I appreciate the gesture, Captain Ichimaru, but if the three of us are tied up with restraining my bankai, we won't be able to lead our respective squads. They're at the breaking point already. I must... No!"

Huh? He turned back to look at Komamura's bankai and...

He blinked. _Kokujo Tengen Myoo_ had taken its massive sword in a reverse grip... and was positioning it to stab itself. The blade descended, only to stop as Komamura brushed past him and raised his sword at the towering giant.

"Obey me!" he heard the larger captain snarl. He saw Komamura's blade wavering, as if something physical was pushing against it.

Despite whatever control Captain Komamura was trying to apply to the blade, the bankai's sword continued to come inexorably closer. Damn it all. He couldn't do anything, save maybe try to slice off one of the giant's arm with his own bankai. But if he did that, the pain might break Komamura's concentration, and the other hand would finish the job.

And then _Kaname_ charged forward. His friend made a throwing motion, and he saw the ring normally attached to the _Suzumushi_'s guard arc up towards the giant.

"Bankai! _Suzumushi Tsuishiki Enma Korogi_!"

There was a glint at the ring split up and expanded, and the rings formed the framework for Kaname's dark bankai to sprout up on _Kokujo Tengen Myoo_'s chest. The tip off the sword pressed into the black void... but didn't pierce it. He heard a grunt, and saw that Kaname seemed to be straining to maintain the integrity of the released blade.

Well now, that was an interesting facet of Kaname's cage that he hadn't known about. Next time you looked it would be able to do catering.

Hmm? He heard static coming in from the direction of the dust. He raised _Shinso_, settling its tip to point straight into the dust cloud kicked up by Komamura's bankai. It looked like the Arrancar weren't quite ready to withdraw yet.

* * *

"Cirucci!" Nanao roared as the Sèptima Espada charged off, leading two dozen clones and normal Arrancar. "_Withdraw_!"

The Hollow either didn't hear her... or didn't care. Damn it! She flipped one of _Shokomaru_'s screens to center on the Espada. If she could get some quick, strong bakudo spells onto Cirucci she could... what? She couldn't drag the Espada back here herself. She didn't have the power for that. Ukitake was busy, too, trying to keep—a frankly out of character—Captain Kuchiki from penetrating into their flanks in a reckless charge. Most of the other Espada were mounting assaults through the hills to secure a lane of withdrawal, and it was just Luppi and Cirucci holding their flanks.

She turned to fix the Octavo Espada with a stare. The smallish Hollow returned her gaze with a shrug.

"I think if that witch wants to play patty-cake with at least three captains, I'll let her. I don't particularly feel like dying on this misbegotten, weed-encrusted battlefield. Besides, we're still not _permitted_ to unleash Resurecciòn, are we?"

She bristled a bit at Luppi's faintly condescending tone, but, no, she didn't have the time or the energy to pick a fight with an Espada. "Correct."

"Ah, as I thought," the Espada said loftily. "I'll just hang back and wait for those Soul Reapers to come at me to die. Although I do wonder if they will or not." She saw the Arrancar point with his chin at Captain Komamura's bankai as it strained to stab itself. "I do have to wonder what that's all about it."

She wanted to think about that, too, but with a battle going on, she didn't have the apparent luxury Luppi seemed to have. A captain—or any Soul Reaper—losing control of his bankai was unprecedented. Had Komamura done something, before the battle, to somehow make his zanpakuto...

What? Pout? A zanpakuto was a manifestation of its owners power and soul. Even if a Soul Reaper had an extraordinarily Freudian argument with his zanpakuto's spirit, it would _not_ disobey its owner on this scale. It was impossible as a person's hand choking themselves to death.

So what was it? Some bizarre ploy by the Seireitei? Was Yamamoto that insane to throw away lives away for... something? If it was some weird strategy, what purpose did it serve? Soul Reapers had died, and the Arrancar were on their way to an orderly withdrawal. What _was_ going on?

"Ugh," she grunted to herself, "I can ponder this some other time."

* * *

She was running out of time.

Rangiku gestured, and a wall of dust from _Haineko_ formed in a protective bubble around a Squad Six member who had been knocked to the ground, stunned. The clone Arrancar's sword rebounded from the dust-shield, but it blurred away before she could envelop it with her shikai. Darn.

Another wave of powerful reishi washed over her, and she turned her head to the east, just in time to see a swift figure kill three Soul Reapers with blindingly fast sweeps of her weird-looking sword. She sent _Haineko_ washing out towards the Espada, but the Arrancar flashed away before the dust was even halfway there.

She bit her lip. Another three Soul Reapers down, and the Arrancar were starting to pressure them harder. In fact, the skirmishers out on the eastern approaches had been forced back twice by heavy clone attacks, though the scouts had been able to retake their positions after getting help from the line Soul Reapers.

"Here they come!" she heard someone shout.

Grimacing, she called _Haineko_'s dust back to herself, sending it swirling around and ready to move at a moment's notice. A breeze blew up, blowing away the dirt that had been kicked up by the heavy fighting

Which showed roughly a million regular Arrancar and about eighty billion clones.

They wouldn't be able to hold back this assault, not that many of the Hollows... unless she was able to funnel them. Break their formations, let her troops gang up on the Arrancar to counteract the Menos' superior individual power. Had to do it... now!

"_Haineko_!" she cried jabbing hand towards the assaulting Arrancar. Her shikai's dust flowed outward towards the Hollows—so many of them!—and formed up into a swirling wall. The clones rammed into the wall, probably trying to break through, but most of them just bounced. A few did manage to bull through, but the Soul Reapers were waiting and swarmed them two or three at a time.

She felt her legs trembling. It was... so... hard to maintain this barrier. Even now more Arrancar were managed to push through, putting more pressure on her people. But she had to hold, damn it, or they were all dead.

Something flashed gold, and a portion of the dust wall exploded. Through the gap stepped a blonde Arrancar with a mask remnants that looked like a toothy jaw. That was the Espada.

Uh-oh.

She sidestepped, barely, just as the Hollow's sword tried to cut her head in half.

"Ah," she hissed, as the zanpakuto scraped along her left arm. As she stumbled to the ground she instinctively beckoned for _Haineko_, but stopped. She did that and nothing would stop the Arrancar from charging in at full strength.

Then again, if she didn't get her zanpakuto back her, nasty things involving a sword and her body would happen. And then the Arrancar would _still_ be able to do as they pleased.

She gestured for her shikai to hurry its dusty butt back to her.

Too slow. The sword was already stabbing towards her heart.

Gin... she hadn't been able to... one last—

"Bakudo eighty-one, _Danku_!"

_Clang_.

She blinked. With a pop, a kido shield had formed between her and the Espada's sword, blocking it. Either the spell wasn't perfect, or the Hollow was too strong, because the kido started to crack along the point of impact. Who could have...?

"Hado thirty-one, _Shakkaho_!"

She heard the Arrancar growl something and blur backwards as a fireball slammed into the ground where the Espada had just been standing. With a grunt she gestured back towards the north, sending _Haineko_ back to its shield configuration.

Something dark flashed into her field of position. Short, petite, with a hair bun and a drawn sword. Momo?

"Rangiku, are you all right?" the other girl asked her quickly.

"Been better. Then again, I could've been a lot worse," she said muzzily as she got back to her feet. Her vision sharpened as she heard a familiar booming sound. "Momo, watch out!"

"What—_Nyah_!"

The Espada was back again, slashing at Momo. She saw the other lieutenant deflect the attacks, barely.

"Snap, _Tobiume_!" Momo cried, and heated air pushed into her as Momo sent a fireball through her sword. The Espada backhanded the attack away and again struck, catching the other lieutenant's blade inside that hollowed-out section of the zanpakuto. the Espada pushed, and Momo was forced to one knee.

The Espada raised her free hand, where it began to glow and crackle with gold energy. Oh damn. Cero!

She gathered up her spiritual energy, quickly reciting an incantation. "Hado four,_ Byakurai_!"

The lightning bolt struck the Hollow's stomach just as the Espada made a slashing motion with her glowing hand. The spell didn't do much more than spark off the Hollow's hierro, but it apparently was a good enough distraction, because the wide-arcing Cero blast was way off the mark.

Momo used that moment to ram a shoulder into the Arrancar's stomach. Momo looked a good twenty centimeters shorter, and was probably at least fifteen kilos lighter, but getting slugged in stomach by a lighting spell was a good enough distraction, it looked like.

She was readying another spell when she saw the Espada regain her balance and come at Momo again.

Or tried to. The heck?

The Hollow looked puzzled, making tugging motions with her arms.

"What is this?" the Arrancar snarled, swinging to fix Momo with a stare. "You think this trickery will stop me?"

"It's not there to stop you," Momo said calmly, making a gesture with her hands.

Her eyes widened as a... the closest thing she could think of was spiderweb, if it was huge and red, appeared. She saw that the Espada's arms and one leg were stuck fast by the strange, now-visible kido.

The Hollow stared for a moment. Then, with a grunt, the Arrancar tore her left arm free of the web.

"It's there to help me aim," she heard Momo finish. The other lieutenant raised a hand, making a grasping motion... which revealed a strand of the web-kido held tightly in Momo's left hand. Even as it appeared, she saw Momo bring _Tobiume_ down to touch the strand.

"_Tobiume_, now."

Roaring, the Espada ripped her leg free...

Just as a massive explosion engulfed the kido that was restraining the Arrancar. Whoa! She brought her hands up to protect her face and rocks and soil exploded outwards, pelting her. When rocks had stopped flying, she sneaked a glance at Momo. The younger Soul Reaper looked downright exhausted.

At the same time, she heard the sound of dozens of flash-steps, and saw at least thirty fresh Soul Reapers appear around her thrown-together forces. Squad Five to save the day. Yay.

She bit back a sudden urge to giggle like a nutcase.

"Team Seven, Team Three, reinforce the main battle line. Two, move to strengthen the western flank. Five, hang back and reinforce as needed."

There was a series of gale-like sounds, and the Squad Five troopers disappeared from view.

"Wow, never seen you do that before," she said a bit woozily as she got to her feet."

Momo helped her. "What, a _Fushibi_ net hidden by a _Kyokko_ concealment spell, or giving commands?"

"Both."

The other lieutenant just smiled as she helped her get back to her feet. Back upright, the dizziness transformed into a truly disgusting headache. Ooh.

"Rangiku, I think I brought enough people that you can recall _Haineko_ back from its shield duties," she heard Momo say.

"But I might as well leave it up," she countered. "Makes their job easier."

"Well, true. But I'd rather have your shikai here, since I don't think—"

She dust scattered as a pillar of yellow spiritual energy arced into the sky. The shark-masked Espada, her jacket in tatters, glared at them.

"That _stung_."

"—I neutralized her," Momo finished.

* * *

Cirucci Sanderwicci, Septìma Espada, rushed towards the Soul Reaper lines at an oblique angle. The Arrancar reasons that with such an approach would make her point of engagement difficult to determine, since she could divert at any moment. The twenty-seven Arrancar behind her, a mix of clones and naturally-formed Arrancar, kept in close formation. It was not the Hollow way, but Unohana's doctrine had been engrained deeply enough that they did it almost automatically.

The Espada turned suddenly, bearing down at a point where she sensed the weakest spiritual energy—and thus the easiest part to shatter. But even as the Arrancar commander moved, Captain Gin Ichimaru flash-stepped to counter her.

The two lines crashed together, Arrancar versus Soul Reaper skirmishers, and captain and Espada. The two opponents slammed together, crossing their weapons—Ichimaru's short wakizashi and Cirucci's bizarre whip-like contraption—before rebounding apart. The captain's blade exploded into its shikai form even as the Espada sent her disc-like weapon darting in from a distance. The two combatants fought from afar, fencing from several paces away all the while exchanging taunts to break the other's concentration. Ichimaru's _Shinso_ moved far faster than Cirucci's _Golondrina_, but the whip-like nature of the Espada's weapon allowed her to intricately control its trajectory and speed, and more than once the Squad Three captain found himself having to quickly flash-step away as the spinning disc came lashing out from unexpected angles.

For her part, the Espada had to keep moving, something she and her long-range tactics were unaccustomed to. And, to her mounting frustration and anger, the Soul Reaper captain seemed to be better at it than she was. Ichimaru would flash in, lance out _Shinso_ in a tentative strike, and blur away again to repeat the attacks. She was easily fending off the attacks, and her Sonìdo and sweeping lashes kept the exchange from behind one-sided, yet the tactically-inclined part of her somehow suspected that these easily avoided pinpoint strikes were simply probing her.

Without warning, a combination of a jutting stone and the glinting steel of the spearing _Shinso_ caused Cirucci to stumble. It was but for a split second, but for a skilled, experienced captain with a swift and precise zanpakuto, it was enough. Steel flashed as Ichimaru's shikai shot forwards.

The expertly struck blow pierced the Arrancar's hierro as if it were not there, and continued undeterred into the woman's flesh, severing tendons and nerves in Cirucci's left shoulder. The stricken arm flopped limply to her side even as _Shinso_ slithered back to its shortened form. She sent out a retaliatory blow, but the Soul Reaper had already moved away.

With his friend—and friend's friend, as it were—close to their skirmish line, Gin Ichimaru was not about to take risky chances. He would outmaneuver and out-snipe the Arrancar, bleeding her to death with as many precision strikes as he needed. He knew that the Arrancar would not enter her released state with the threat of the reishi dampeners, so this drawn-out, limited duel was exactly what he had planned.

Ichimaru, unfortunately, hadn't factored in Cirucci's inherent volatility.

As her blood pattered to the ground, rage built up within her and her vision seemed to swim as the offensiveness of her wound struck her. How dare he! With his mocking grin and facetious words. A Soul Reaper! It was intolerable, unforgivable.

With a flick of her good wrist, she called back her zanpakuto, culling her spiritual energy to her.

Face contorting in a snarl, Cirucci raised her weapons above her head.

"Rip, _Golondrina_!"

A sickly violet light, mixing and melding with the golden-green hue of Zaraki's and Unohana's battle, bathed the battlefield, and when it faded away the Soul Reaper was greeted by a monstrous, winged form.

With a maddened shriek, Cirucci's wings swept forward, and steel-hard pinions darted out. The captain rolled out of the way of the sudden attack, and most of the blades plowed into the battling Arrancar. Some didn't, though, and several more Soul Reapers collapsed to the bloody earth, severely wounded or dead. Ichimaru's shikai again flashed out, but it deflected off the heavy blade-feathers of the Espada. Cackling, the Arrancar pressed her attack, moving into close range where her serrated wings and lashing tail relentlessly assaulted the Soul Reaper captain.

* * *

Shuhei grunted as he pushed and forced one of the clones away. It stumbled back, but instead of thinking things through the damned thing came back up, sword drawn back.

He moved first, and one of _Kazeshini_'s scythes tore away half of the silent Hollow's face. Beside him the combined troops of Squads Three, Seven, and Nine strained against the Arrancar attack group. If they broke past they could wreck havoc on the Soul Reapers who were still struggling to reorganize after _Kokujo Tengen Myoo_'s attack and Tetsuzaemon's death.

He grimaced. Tetsuzaemon hadn't deserved that. No one did.

Damn it. No time for those thoughts. He had to think about the here and no—

He grunted as another Arrancar—not a clone, this time—kicked back a Squad Three soldier and pivoted to take a swing at him. He brought his arm up, and the axe-like zanpakuto clattered against his shikai's chain. He hooked his left-hand scythe over the axe's haft, twisting his body to apply enough torque.

It worked. The Arrancar stumbled as his weapon was wrenched out of line, and he split open the Hollow from navel to throat with an upward swing of the other scythe.

The Arrancar in his immediate vicinity had been eliminated, though there were several more still skirmishing with the support units along the battle line.

The third seats could handle that. He had to take a breather or he would plain collapse. He doubled over, hands on his knees, and just panted. Couldn't afford more than a couple of sec—

He almost jumped as another ringing crash sounded. He jerked his head up, and saw Captain Ichimaru trying to open the distance with the winged Arrancar. The Hollow was using her massive wings to enclose and crowd the Soul Reaper, not letting the captain open up the distance.

There was a tearing sound, and he heard Captain Ichimaru gasp in pain. Damn it! The Hollow had laid open a deep wound on the captain's shoulder. Why didn't Captain Ichimaru unleash bankai?

He frowned, turning to look at Captain Tosen and Captain Komamura, still struggling to keep _Kokujo Tengen Myoo_ from stabbing itself... and killing the Squad Seven Captain.

He understood, now. What the two of them were doing was solely about reishi, and if was even half as difficult as he thought, the two captains needed all the concentration they could get. With two bankais and an Arrancar Resurecciòn, plus the numerous shikais of the him and the other squad members, there was enough reishi being tossed around that control would be extraordinarily difficult. One more bankai might shatter their concentration.

That meant Captain Ichimaru was thinking the same thing, and was risking serious injury to give the other captains a chance.

Izuru wasn't here. The Squad Three lieutenant was moving around the borders of Unohana's and Captain Zaraki's reishi sphere, coordinating skirmishing units so the battle squads could withdraw and regroup. No help there.

He had no business stepping in between a captain and an Espada—he still remembered what had happened last time he'd tried to take one on—but in this situation, it was all him.

Why did it always have to be him in these kind of conditions?

He sighed, but that didn't stop him from charging forward.

* * *

With the inclusion of Shuhei Hisagai into the duel between captain and Espada, the momentum began to shift. Hisagi's _Kazeshini_, eerily similar in unpredictability and range to the sealed _Golondrina_, was having a definite effect on Cirucci. Not directly, no, for even a spiritually powerful lieutenant like Hisagi was not enough to pierce a released Espada's hierro except under the most ideal circumstances. What it _did_ accomplish, however, was give the Sèptima Espada something else to distract her and openings for Gin Ichimaru, who did _not_ ideal conditions to wound the Espada, mere shikai or no.

Caught between two opponents, Cirucci was unable to close with either one to envelop them in her razor-studded wings.

Growing more and more frustrated, the Arrancar turned her eyes to an ideal, immobile target.

_Suzumushi Tsuishiki Enma Korogi_.

With a flick of wings, she sent a volley of metallic feathers at the dome that was helping keep _Kokujo Tengen Myoo_'s blade at bay. Seeing her intentions, the Soul Reapers turned their attention to the missiles, aiming to deflect them away.

Which was when Cirucci attacked anew, sweeping a wing to slash open the lieutenant's thigh. Gasping, the younger Soul Reaper staggered to his knees. With the lieutenant out of the picture for the moment, the Espada sent her tail darting in towards the Squad Three captain. Ichimaru instinctively ducked... and missed the flying razor-feathers.

The was a loud rip as five of the feathers dug into the void of Kaname Tosen's bankai. They didn't destroy it outright.

They didn't need to.

The weakened walls could no longer resist the immense pressure of the giant's blade, and Tosen's bankai shredded apart to pieces of shadow and tumbling rings.

Feedback shock raced through Tosen as the bankai was abruptly destroyed, and some of that reishi disruption bled into the air, into Captain Sajin Komamura.

His control faltered for the barest of instants, but that was more than enough.

There was a titanic squeal of metal as the humongous sword rammed home. It drowned out the meaty impact of a phantom blade piercing flesh, and the thud as a large, armored body hit the ground.

Komamura hadn't uttered a sound as he collapsed to the earth. The giant had pierced its own massive heart, and the damage of that fatal injury sympathetically reflected onto the Squad Seven commander's body.

Sajin Komamura was dead before he hit the ground.

* * *

Nanao stared through one of _Shokomaru_'s screens as the giant bankai mortally wounded itself and slowly toppled to the ground.

Well, that changed things quite a bit.

"Luppi," she said sharply.

"What is it now, Specialist Ise?"

"Hold the flank, but do _not_ advance. I think we have an opening."

"Oh, you don't—"

She didn't hear the rest. She was already moving to her intelligence team with flash-step. Plus, she didn't feel like chatting with Luppi.

"Specialist Ise?" one of her operatives asked as she drew closer.

"Expedite the repacking of the equipment _now_," she ordered quickly. "With Komamura's bankai destroyed, we'll be free from interference for a few minutes. I'll move to the front and help Tia and Dordonii break through. Make your way there was fast as you are able."

"What about the data on the reishi-dampeners?"

She shook her head. "That's not important anymore. We have the data on the Garganta-nullifying kido that Captain Aizen used, which is far more valuable and critical to any overall strategy than the dampeners."

The Arrancar just looked at her intently. Then, "Very well, then."

"Once that is complete," she continued, "dispatch some messengers to Unohana and Ukitake. Tell them we finally have an opening."

The Hollow nodded.

Calling her shikai to her, she sealed _Shokumaru_ before flash-stepping to the south.

* * *

"Ah!" Momo choked as the Espada backhanded her. She'd been able to get a _Seki_ deflection spell up in time, so the blow didn't crack her skull open. It still knocked her five meters through the air where she hit the ground, hard.

She rolled... just in time to see the Hollow's blade coming at her face.

"_Haineko_!" she heard Rangiku yell, and dust flew in between her face and the zanpakuto. Rangiku wouldn't be able to hold!

She rolled, just as the Espada broke through the shikai and dug a furrow into the ground. She scrambled back to her feet, just when something burning hot slammed into her back, sending her through the air again.

She looked up dazedly. Ooh. That had hurt. Cero? No, it had come too quickly, without the usual charge-up that she always saw with a Cero. Bala? Had to be.

Oh. Ugh. She shook her head, trying to get her brain to right itself.

She heard a choking gasp, and turned in time to see Rangiku stumble backwards, her thigh bloodied. The Espada moved closer, sword held high.

She heaved herself to her knees and swung _Tobiume_, channeling her spiritual power through the blade as it arced. A fireball blasted out from her shikai towards the Arrancar, who, almost lazily, flicked it away. At least, though, the brief distraction gave Rangiku time to flash-step back.

The Espada advanced to attack again, but she sent a _Sokatsui_ spell sizzling into the Arrancar's hip. Just like the last half-dozen times, it didn't do more than deflect off the Hollow's skin after scorching her clothing. Instinctively the Espada turned to face her, only to swing back again as Rangiku attacked once more with _Haineko_. She saw the other lieutenant make a slashing moment, but the ash didn't have any effect.

The Espada brushed the dust away, turning away from Rangiku to raise a hand at her. A cero...!

She started muttering the spell for a _Danku_ shield—thank goodness Captain Aizen had taught it to her, otherwise Rangiku would be dead—but she wouldn't have enough time.

"Reign over the frosted heavens, _Hyorinmaru_!" she heard a familiar voice roar.

There was a crackling from above, and a wave of ice crashed into the Espada. A heartbeat later Toshiro followed. The air exploded into glinting frost and dust, and she lost track of her friend and the Hollow.

She felt more spiritual pressure, both Soul Reaper and Arrancar. Ah! She couldn't stop. Toshiro was powerful enough to match the Espada. She was incredibly worried, but she _had_ to have confidence in Toshiro. And if she was really sensing more spiritual pressure, it meant the main battle was starting to shift this way.

She heard a gale-like noise behind her, right before familiar spiritual pressure pushed at her. Captain Aizen.

"Captain," she said," trying not to sound as tired as she really felt. "We were hit from the north by heavy Arrancar reinforcements, and the skirmish line in the eastern direction is having difficulty holding. I—"

The world tilted for a second, and she felt herself stumble upwards. Or downwards. Hard to tell. She did stop when something grabbed her shoulder and held her diagonally. Well, diagonally until it became straight again. Oh. Ouch.

"Momo, are you all right?" she heard her captain ask her quietly.

She blinked and shook her head briefly. The world stopped spinning.

"Yes sir," she said quickly. With you and Tosh—Captain Hitsugaya present, Lieutenant Matsumoto and I can shift our attention reinforcing the east while you handle the direct north." Wait a second. She was talking like _this_ to Captain Aizen? "And, er, those are just suggestions of course. Yes."

"Which are astute and tactically sound ones," the older Soul Reaper replied. "My mobile force will move to reinforce the northern battle line while Captain Hitsugaya and myself try to take down the Espada. We passed at least two more Espada-level Arrancar moving towards here, so we can expect more trouble."

She saw her captain pause a moment as an explosion of ice and yellow energy howled out from where Toshiro and the Hollow were fighting. She saw the man turn back to her and Rangiku, who had managed to limp over to them.

"Lieutenant Hinamori, Lieutenant Matsumoto. I'm going to need you to focus your attention to the east. We can_not_ be flanked now. However, do not overextend. Have your units hold their positions, and I want the two of you in support roles only, do you understand?"

"Yes, sir," she and Rangiku both said.

"Go." Her captain paused for a second. "And was that from the Hollow?"

Captain Aizen was looking at the side of her face, probably at where the Arrancar had walloped her. She was sure there was going to be a livid bruise for Isane and the others to treat when this was all said and done.

"It was," she said.

"I see." Her captain started to turn towards where Toshiro and the Espada were still battling fiercely. "I can't say I'm very happy with that, at all."

And then Captain Aizen flash-stepped away.

"Well, that was interesting," she heard Rangiku say.

She nodded in agreement. "Even with their reinforcements, we still have a real job in front of us." She paused when noticed Rangiku staring at her. "Um?"

The other lieutenant gave a strained smile. "_Exactly_ what I was thinking. We had better—"

And then everything was on fire.

* * *

Gin normally thought of Kaname as a swell kind of character. A little dense when it came to anything involving wit, yes, and without a humorous bone in his body, but nonetheless a person he felt comfortable working with and calling friend.

For a second, he forgot about those aspects of Kaname Tosen.

As Captain Komamura's body slumped to the ground in a lifeless heap, he didn't see Kaname move a muscle. He didn't hear his friend make a sound.

Kaname just stood there, as the person who was—_had_ _been_—competing with him for the "Kaname's Best Friend Award" spilled his blood over the churned earth.

A few hundred heartbeats passed, with the monstrous Arrancar who had effectively dealt the killing blow to Komamura cackling in front of him.

And then Kaname began walking towards the release Arrancar, calmly, as if he were taking a walk in the park.

"Kaname," he said, unsure.

"She dies," he heard Kaname say softly before his friend blurred away with flash-step.

Even as the other captain rushed forward, _Suzumushi Tsuishiki Enma Korogi_ again sprang into existence, this time around the Hollow. He saw a ripple as Kaname passed through the dark walls and into the bankai-arena.

"You think I'm afraid of the dark, Soul Reaper?" he heard the Espada scream, the sound muted by the bankai. "Then come here! You will die just as that dog did! The pain you experience will—"

Fortunately, it seemed unlikely that he would never find out what kind of pain Kaname would go through, because there was the ugly sound of metal hitting flesh, and the Arrancar started screaming. As he watched, some of the metal feather-missiles ripped through the _Suzumushi Tsuishiki Enma Korogi_'s walls, all the while accompanied by hacking sounds and wails.

It went on for what felt like an hour, but was probably only half a minute in reality. The Hollow's cries cut off abruptly, and a moment later Kaname's bankai split apart.

He blinked. There were... pieces spread all around Kaname. Little bits, large bits, but all very ragged bits. In one hand Kaname held _Suzumushi_. In the other he saw the Espada's head. As the... parts started to dissolve, Kaname dropped the disembodied head to the ground. In the moonlight, he could see that his friend was splashed in gore... and didn't seem to care.

As if on cue, a breathless Soul Reaper dropped out of the air next to him.

"Captain Ichimaru!" the trooper gasped. "Captain Aizen and Captain Hitsugaya have moved to interdict Hollow forces attempting to... retreat through the south..."

He saw the man's face turn white. Must have noticed the dead Komamura and the bloody Kaname Tosen in the damned background.

"Continue."

The unseated Soul Reaper shook himself, and went on. "Sir, Captain Aizen is requesting whatever forces you can spare to reinforce the units at the new Garganta."

He frowned. Everyone here—including himself—was injured to one degree to another, and Kaname—

"Let's go, Gin," he heard Kaname growl.

Kaname never growled.

"You know," he said to his blood-soaked friend jokingly, "you're almost starting to scare me."

Kaname starting moving south, his gait again seeming like that of a man on a stroll.

"Am I? Good."

And then Kaname flash-stepped south.

* * *

Nanao readied to hurl another kido spell through her shikai's screen as the dust cleared. Had she gotten them? If she had...

She felt her stomach turn a few more flip-flops. She'd personally killed more Soul Reapers in the past few hours than she'd ever had in her entire life. And now she might have killed two people she had called friends a month before.

She moved her hands, shifting the screens. But no. Momo had managed to deflect her kido strike with a responding attack, and the _Soren Sokatsui_ had only hit them a glancing blow. With a motion of her hands she focused more screens upon Momo and Rangiku, all the while muttering the incantation for another spell.

Halfway through the _Byakurai_ spell, she saw a reddish glow amid the dust. What was...

"Oh," she whispered as a fireball screamed out of the dust. Coming straight at the _Shokomaru_'s screen like that it almost looked like it... was...

Like it was going to hit her.

She dived to the side, feeling heat raise a few blisters on her cheek as the attack sped _out_ of her shikai's viewscreen and sailed off into the night.

What in the _world_ had that been! Momo's attack—she'd managed to recognize the reishi of the blast as a _Shakkaho_ spell, not one of _Tobiume_'s signature attacks—had come _in_ the same way her own kido attacks went _out_.

_Shokomaru_'s screens were actual physical things that appeared and moved about the battlefield, acting as lenses of sorts to allow her a view of the battlefield. They were, however, invisible, and had reishi levels only slightly above ambient.

Which was apparently enough for someone like Momo to estimate with.

"Hado four, _Byakurai_!" she yelled, jabbing a finger at one screen. The lighting bolt arced through the screen towards the Squad Five lieutenant, who deflected it with her zanpakuto. Momo followed that up with what looked like a _Sokatsui_ spell, which again came blazing towards one of her screens.

"Bakudo eight, _Seki_," she spat, and an energy field enveloped her hand, allowed her to slap away the incoming _Sokatsui_. She followed that with another attack spell, which Momo countered with one of her own.

She shifted another of her screens so that it had a clear view of the other lieutenant's back, then launched an _Okasen_ spell at Momo's blind spot. Before it could hit, dust swirled up and blunted the spell. Rangiku.

Her eyes widened as the Squad Ten lieutenant sent _Haineko_ streaming towards one of her screens. She scrambled to shift the portal out of position, but the edges of the dust simply washed over the screen and did not pass through. Hmm. Perhaps only kido was permitted through. That was useful knowledge, in any case.

She glanced off to the side at another screen, one that was monitoring the Arrancar withdrawal. Good. It looked like the fighting retreat was coming along well. In fact, some of the Hollows no immediately tied up with the rear action had pushed forward and would be engaging the main Soul Reaper skirmish line. Hmm. Cirucci wasn't there, though. No matter.

She shook her head, sending another blistering fireball toward the two other lieutenants.

* * *

Retsu didn't have much time, nor did she have many options. In a scant few seconds, she would fall unconscious because Kenpachi's chokehold was restricting blood flow to her brain. And a few moments after that, the she would die from simple strangulation.

Had to... do something... quickly.

She focused every bit of spiritual energy into her right arm, mentally reciting a simple kido spell. Kenpachi detected the shift in reishi and strengthened his own. Any spell she could throw in this weakened, disoriented state was highly unlikely to dislodge him.

So she aimed the spell at _herself_.

The _Sho_ telekinetic spell rammed into her, sending both of them flying. It did not dislodge her from Kenpachi's grip, yet the disorientation from being flung through the air and the sheer unexpectedness of the attack loosened the captain's grip on her for an instant.

Instinctively, she dug her chin down into her chest, making it more difficult for the other Soul Reaper to encircle her neck again. Mind clear again, she wormed an arm in between Kenpachi's and heaved with all her might.

For a moment, nothing happened, but, slowly, she was able to loosen the chokehold.

With enough room, she dipped her head forward before jerking it back and ramming it into Kenpachi's face. The man's nose, raw from the break it had received earlier, sent excruciating pain to his brain. She felt his arms spasm instinctively, and with a twist and shove whose apparent simplicity defied its actual complexity, she broke free.

Gasping, she hit the ground hard enough to temporarily wind her. She shook it off quickly, flash-stepping to _Minazuki_ and snatching it back up. She squared off again with the larger Soul Reaper. Kenpachi bared his teeth and drew back...

Only to be hit by a powerful kido spell that sent the captain tumbling. Frowning, she swung her gaze to where the spell had come from.

Jushiro dropped beside her, shikai in hand. The other Soul Reaper's jacket was shredded, but, thankfully, she could only see a little bleeding.

"I managed to lure Kuchiki far away enough that I was able to break away, but we don't have much time. Tia, Dordonii, and Wonderweiss are attempting to punch through, but it's not going to matter if we get bogged down enough for the captains to rally. Several of the captains have already left your area and are attempting to reinforce the Garganta blockade."

"Understood," she said. She had begun her duel with Kenpachi in order to lure in the other captains, whom she was sure had been ordered by Yamamoto to eliminate her. Between the spectacle she had created and the immense reishi outburst from herself and Kenpachi, she had diverted the Seireitei's attention from the reconnaissance group and onto herself. Now that the Soul Reapers had shifted their priorities to the Arrancar themselves there was no point in carrying on this charade.

"Retsu," she heard a voice growl.

Slowly, she turned to face the captain, who was slowly advancing towards her and Jushiro, sword gripped tightly.

She shook her head. "Goodbye for now, Kenpachi," she said. She raised her palm at the Squad Eleven captain. "Hado ninety-one, _Senju Koten Taiho_."

The spell battered against the shield of Kenpachi's spiritual pressure, but it was still enough force to knock the man over and give Jushiro and her some room to withdraw. She prepared to flash-step.

"Until next time," she said quietly.

* * *

Yachiru wiped her nose with her sleeve, then spat. The bloody spittle pattered to the dusty ground, looking black in the moonlight.

She leaned against the more or less intact wall of one of the houses in this part of the Rukon District and tried to catch her breath. _Catch her breath_. She was Yachiru! Kusajishi! She shouldn't have to need to rest to whack a couple of Arrancar.

Huh. maybe she wasn't as awesomely invincible as she though she was.

She heard footsteps. Blearily, she looked up and saw a trio of Arrancar clones stalking down the street. The bone-heads caught sight of her and silently made their way towards her.

Oh man. She looked down at the zanpakuto in her hand. She was just way too tired to maintain _Kokuyoibara_'s shikai, so she only had the sealed blade to work with. Should be a piece of cake.

If she wasn't, you know, beaten up and exhausted as hell. _Kokuyoibara_ felt like it weighed a ton, and she knew her spiritual pressure was flagging after the fight with Franceska and the subsequent fights with the other Arrancar.

"Oh, whatever," she said to herself as she pushed away from the wall. She bared her teeth at the Hollows. "Don't bore me."

The clones continued on towards her.

That was, until a random wall of water came out of nowhere and slammed them to the ground with bone-breaking force. The water pinned the Arrancar down for good measure, drowning them. After that was done it simply flowed away down the street.

She felt spiritual pressure, kind of familiar, but kind of not. It felt... all weird and jerky. Sort of how Kenny had been feeling lately, but, like, nine thousand times harder. But, at least whoever it was was a Soul Reaper, and she wasn't detecting anymore Arrancar.

She eased up a teensy bit as Kaien came limping out from one of the alleyways, one hand carrying a release _Nejibana_ and the other cradling a large bundle of some kind.

The other lieutenant turned to her. "Are you all right?"

She opened her mouth to reply, then stopped. Something was _wrong_ with Kaien's voice. Like... like it wasn't Kaien. Like it was dead.

Kaien stepped out from behind the shadows of the building, where the moonlight and fires from all the fighting gave some illumination.

She gasped. And she was freaking Yachiru. She _never_ gasped.

Kaien's face was caked with dirt and grime, except for a couple of streaks here and there that were almost clean. She also saw that the older Soul Reaper was badly hurt. Badly enough that she had no clue _how_ Kaien was still on his feet, much less why the guy would further damage himself like that.

Heck with it. She limped forward—man, this was going to smart in the morning—and stepped up to Kaien.

And saw that the older Soul Reaper was crying. That explained those clean spots on Kaien's face. They were where tears had washed away the dirt. And Kaien's eyes still looked... she didn't know. She didn't know how to describe it. On top of that Kaien's spiritual pressure was just a big blob of black, also something she'd never seen before.

Then she got a good look at what Kaien was holding.

It was Rukia Kuchiki. Dead.

And suddenly, so many things that had happened tonight made a bunch of sense.

"Oh, damn, Kaien," she said.

Kaien just looked back at her with those dead eyes, and said nothing.

* * *

Renji dropped to his knees as he tried—and failed—to reconstitute _Hihio Zabimaru_. He was too weak! Too weak to save anyone. Too weak to save Rukia.

He felt himself slam his fist into the ground in rage and grief. The anger that had been keeping him going was draining away, leaving him all burnt out and weak.

Took weak. Too weak. Too—

Then he began to weep.

* * *

Between the two of them, they had the Arrancar advance stopped.

Sosuke projected an illusion at one of the Arrancar, a blond one with Espada-level spiritual energy, just as Captain Hitsugaya moved in from the other side. Ice crackled down, but a Cero intercepted the wave of frost and vaporized it. Before he could steam could clear, he lashed out with a _Haien_ blast. It missed, but it would have the Arrancar think twice, at least.

In any event, the Arrancar—the two confirmed Espada, and the Espada-class—were not able to simply push through. In a few moments Gin and Kaname would come to assist, and then would be able to start forcing them away from the hilly areas and into the plains, where they could surround and counterattack the Hollows.

As he prepared to flash-step forward to assist the Squad Ten captain against the blonde Hollow, he felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand up on end.

Unohana.

"She's here!" he roared as he drew himself up into a ready stance.

Through the smoke and steam and dust came the rogue captain, sword drawn. Even as his blade clashed with _Minazuki_, he noticed that Unohana seemed the worse for wear. Zaraki's doing, most likely. He deflected Unohana's blade over to his left, at the same time projecting an illusion of himself moving forward for a quick jab. The woman's spiritual pressure was strong enough to blunt the hypnosis, but it still caused her to instinctively move to block the illusory attack. As he passed to the side, he laid open a slice to the outside of Unohana's thigh. The counterattack came back lightning fast, and he wasn't quite able to parry the strike the bit into his left bicep.

If he played his cards right, he might be able to end this. Unohana was tired and at a tactical disadvantage, trying to rush through them. It would make Unohana more prone to mistakes.

He heard a shout from a Soul Reaper who had bravely—and foolishly—gotten close enough to him and Unohana to verbally relay a message.

"Captain Aizen! Captain Hitsugaya! Ukitake and another of the Espada are engaging the eastern pickets! They can't hold!

Eastern... Momo!

It could make Unohana _desperate_.

"Captain Hitsugaya!" he bawled. "Reinforce the east! I'll hold here!"

He vaguely remembered the other captain snarling something before flashing off to the east. He could barely recall it because he was too occupied with keeping three powerful Arrancar from killing him. Unohana hung back and bombarded him with kido as he crossed swords with the Espada.

Luckily, between his speed, clever maneuvering to keep the Espada between himself and Unohana, and his shikai's hypnosis, he was able to prevent any serious injury to himself. By the same token, he wasn't making much headway against them, either. The Hollows were being especially cautious, since he constantly superimposing hypnotic illusions of himself over their comrades. Unohana wasn't unleashing rapid kido strikes, either.

Worst yet, he was being forced _back_.

A well-aimed kido attack slashed across his left arm, further injuring it. He let the spell's passing—it hadn't been a direct hit, thank goodness—momentarily disorient the Espada next to him, the mustachioed one. He hacked downwards, knocking the Hollow's zanpakuto out of alignment and giving him a deep cut across his torso. It was hardly fatal, and he had the blonde female to contend with as well, as well as the youthful blond one. He went a _Sokatsui_ spell sizzling at the youth even as he charged at the woman. Steel clanged on steel, and with a twist he shifted the Espada's odd, hollow sword downward. He then swept upward and scraped _Kokya Suigetsu_ across the Arrancar's shoulder. It bit through the Espada's Hierro and drew blood. Not much, but enough to make the Hollow hiss in pain and back away.

And then Unohana slammed into him.

"Ugh," he grunted as he strained against the rogue captain. She'd come barreling in from a distance, and her momentum was too great.

"Dordonii, retrieve Ukitake and the others!" she heard Unohana shout. "Tia, Wonderweiss, get our forces through the Garganta, now!"

Damn. He traded rapid blows with Unohana, who, thankfully slowed by her injuries, wasn't simply able to dominate him like she had back in Central Forty-Six. Unfortunately, Unohana still retained enough stamina to match him, even with his shikai in play.

But just how much stamina? How long could the rogue Soul Reaper last?

Well, he'd have to find out.

* * *

Isane heard Captain Hitsugaya mutter something that sounded suspiciously like a curse as the Garganta closed. A spearhead led by several Espada, Ukitake, and Unohana had bulldozed through Captain Aizen and the other forces barring the way to the Garganta. Captain Ichimaru and Captain Tosen had come too late, doing little more than cutting down some of the stragglers and the clones.

She shook her head. It had been a bloodbath, for both sides. She was getting some reports that Captain Komamura had been killed in battle, and that there were heavy casualties back in the Rukongai where an Arrancar strike force had managed to assault through the living quarters. She'd sent Hanataro off to see to the people there.

She shook herself. Daydreaming.

"Team Eleven," she heard herself call. "Move to the east and form a triage area. Team Thirteen, stabilize the critically injured and prep them for transport back to the medical facilities in the Seireitei."

Even as the troops called out affirmatives, she opened up a _Tenteikura_ spell to Yasochika.

"Isane?" The third seat asked her. "What can I do for you?"

"Have the crash teams standing by, and have all Squad Four personnel on full standby." She heard her voice drop an octave. "It's bad, Yasochika."

The officer just stared for a moment. Then, "I'm on it. Have the seriously injured brought to... the north entrance. I'll have teams standing by to receive them."

"All right. Thank you."

She waved her hand and dispelled the kido.

She shivered a bit as she heard the cries and the moans of the many, many wounded, and winced a bit as she heard the sounds of the combat-ready Soul Reapers dispatching any of the wounded Arrancar.

So much blood and death. There was going to be a lengthy debriefing after this, and mountains of administrative work, but that was for later. Much later. Right now, she had to focus.

She walked over to where some of the Squad Four medics were trying to save the life of a badly mangled Squad Ten member. The medics moved aside to give her room.

She gathered reishi to her hands and began to assist in the healing.

* * *

**NOTES UPDATED**


	27. Part V: Pieces

**_DOWNFALL_**

by

Greg Wong

* * *

_**PART V: PIECES**_


	28. Chapter 21: After Action

_**DOWNFALL**_

by

Greg Wong

* * *

**Chapter 21: After Action**

* * *

Nnoitra felt like fidgeting, but he managed to beat down the impulse and simply folded his hands and placed them on the table. He watched as Lady Unohana read the after-action abstract. He couldn't get a read on the Soul Reaper's thoughts as the woman went down the lines.

The people attending this little conference were few. Of the Espada, it was just Nelliel and himself. Dordonii and Tia were injured and currently being healed, and Cirucci and Aaroniero were obviously not going to be here. The others had been given other duties.

Lady Unohana, Lord Kyoraku and Specialist Ise were here as well. Lord Ukitake had apparently sustained harsher injuries than previously believed and was still being treated.

Come to think of it, Lady Unohana and Specialist Ise looked terrible.

Weak/vulnerable/kill.

To be honest, though, he couldn't blame them. A mere four hours of sleep following a such an intense battle would make anyone look haggard and look like

Food/prey/victim.

Ugh. At least they could have freshened up first, or something.

He shook his head slightly, and the voices quieted down. Nelliel was sitting impassively across from him, also poring over an abstract. He was fairly sure that the woman was reacting subliminally to the Soul Reapers' weakness, though carefully not showing it.

He cocked his head as Lady Unohana set down the hard copy.

"A disaster," the Soul Reaper said bluntly.

Out of the corner of his eye he saw Lord Kyoraku lean forward. "We got hurt, but it wasn't one-sided. Komamura and Iba were confirmed killed in action, and preliminary reports also suggest that Squad Seven took strategic-level losses. And any other squad that intervened also took significant casualties, though I suspect most of them will only be wounded."

"We also lost the Espadas Aaroniero Arruruerie and Cirucci Sanderwicci, as well as Tia's Fracciòn Franceska Mila-Rose. In a battle that shouldn't even have _happened in the first place_." The last part was snapped out angrily, and he found himself straightening in his seat instinctively. "Tactically, yes, we gave as good as we received, but on a strategic level we are sorely weakened. We have lost the initiative!

"The Seireitei now knows how covertly we can insert a heavy assault force in the periphery, which means they will enact strategies to mitigate that particular tactic. We have also no conclusively measured the strength of the reishi dampeners—which was our entire reason for the operation!—and we know that the Soul Society has developed kido to collapse Gargantas."

Lady Unohana leaned back, looking tired. Huh. Sometimes he had to wonder why the Soul Reaper just didn't just do away with all the headaches of complex plans and just bulldozed the Soul Society under. They had the power, damn it.

He frowned a bit when he heard Nelliel clear her throat.

"That being said, Lady Unohana, Specialist Ise did manage to collect more than enough data on the anti-Garganta spells. We should be able to form gateways resistant to the countermeasures."

"Until they come up with something new," Unohana said darkly. The Soul Reaper shook herself. "I suppose this negativity will not help anything. How is morale been amongst the Arrancar?"

He grunted. "Unchanged. We're Hollows. More dead just means less mouths to share with."

Nelliel spoke up. "I wouldn't put it quite _that_ bluntly." The other Espada shot him a wry grin. "However, I do have to agree with Nnoitra. We aren't as sensitive to losses as Soul Reapers are. It also does not hurt that more than half of the confirmed dead were Rudobon's clones, which are easily replaceable."

Lady Unohana nodded. "And our intelligence network?"

"Also mostly unchanged," replied Specialist Ise. "Things are in shambles over there in the Soul Society, much more so than here, and the Soul Reapers haven't really begun to mobilize any kind of counter-intelligence force as of yet. I do think that's going to change shortly, though, so all scout teams are ordered to remain extremely cautious when observing the area."

"Chances of infiltration?"

He saw the younger Soul Reaper shake her head. "Nil. While security in the outer Rukon areas is still very poor, we project that their defenses in the Seireitei proper are going to dramatically increase. I'd just be feeding agents to the Soul Reapers for no gain."

Lady Unohana nodded. "Very well. Keep your parameters as they are for now. Shunsui?"

"Hmm?"

"Progress on your shikai?"

Eh? What where they talking about? Judging from the puzzled look on Nelliel, the other Espada didn't understand the reference either.

"Getting better. Still going to need a bit before I can reliably use _Kageoni_ for what you're planning."

"Very good. Now we can move on to looking at our overall strategic plan and modifying it as necessary to—"

"To you getting some rest," Lord Kyoraku cut in. He felt his eyebrows rise. Had the Soul Reaper really just interrupted Lady Unohana?

Lady Unohana slowly swiveled her head to fix Lord Kyoraku with a cold stare. "There is much to be done, Shunsui," Unohana snapped, "and if I remember correctly _I_ am the one who gives orders!"

"And the fact that you just yelled at me for giving you good advice tells me you're extraordinarily exhausted," Lord Kyoraku said without flinching. "I can begin a preliminary draw-ups, at least. I'd like to think, even though I'm not as bright as Nanao, that I'm not a complete bonehead. You're both liable to overlook things, tired as you are. Please, rest."

Humph. Fragile little Soul Reapers, needing sleep so badly. But, in any case, Lady Unohana seemed to deflate a bit.

"Very well. I'll take six hours. Nanao, you too."

They dismissed the meeting. He had no orders, other than to make sure the other Arrancar weren't going soft. Smacking them around a bit usually did the trick. He—

He felt a hand on his shoulder.

He brushed off the grip and turned. Nelliel.

"What do you want, woman?" he growled.

The other Espada just gave him one of those damnable faint smiles. "Would it really kill you to say 'how are you today, and what can I help you with?' "

Like he was going to take _that_ bait. He just glared at Nelliel.

The female chuckled. "I guess not."

"What do you want?" he repeated.

The grin faded from Nelliel's face. "Walk with me."

"I'd rather not."

"Humor me."

Before he could tell Nelliel to scurry off, the Primera Espada left the room, turning out into the hallway. Ugh. He was not going to be ignored like that. He caught up to the other Arrancar, his longer strides at least preventing him from looking like he was running to catch up. That would just be undignified.

Nelliel maneuvered into a long, unoccupied hallway, here the woman slowed her pace. He waited.

"What do you think could have caused Captain Komamura's bankai to kill itself?" the other Espada said finally.

He waited. He expected the infuriating creature next to him to reveal the answer in a moment of self-indulgent cleverness.

Waiting...

Ugh.

"Are you serious?" he demanded.

"Hmm?"

"Are you really asking me?"

"I am."

He grimaced. "I have no idea."

Beside him, Nelliel frowned. "Troublesome, then. I can think of only two reasons for something like that to happen."

He said nothing, waiting.

Nelliel chuckled. "Lady Unohana mentioned that talking is healthy for the psyche."

"Lady Unohana is a Soul Reaper, not an Arrancar."

"Touchè." The Primera Espada halted by one of the windows that opened out into the artificial landscape of Los Noches' interior. "It's possible that he could have had some extreme enmity or inner turmoil with his zanpakuto, where the conflict manifested itself in a... fatal manner."

He grunted. "I find the possibility to be nil. Someone as old, experienced, and powerful as Komamura couldn't do something as stupid as that. And achieving bankai is supposed to be a big deal concerning your relation with the sword. So I hear."

He saw Nelliel nod. "Also what I have heard from Lady Unohana. I suppose I could have been lied to, but spreading misinformation about your enemy wouldn't exactly be a winning strategy, would it?"

"You have to remember that she's a Soul Reaper, too," he pointed out.

"True. Still."

He grunted in response.

Nelliel just stared out through the window. He just waited for the woman to do something. Oh, hold on.

"What was the second?"

"Mmm?"

"The second reason for the bankai to suicide."

"Ah," Nelliel said. "Infighting amongst the Soul Reapers. Sabotage. Old grudges rising up."

He barked out a laugh. "You really think so? When they have an enemy—_us_—to unite against? And that doesn't even touch on how something like that would be accomplished."

The other Espada shrugged. "It's a possibility. You've heard the stories. You think someone as amoral as Captain Kurotsuchi would get along with someone with the temperament of, say, Captain Tosen?"

"The same Tosen that dismembered Cirucci piece by bloody piece? More likely than you think."

The female cocked her head at him, looking at him for a few moments, before nodding in concession. "Good point. I had overlooked that."

"And you're _overlooking_ a third possibility."

"And that is?"

"It was one of us."

He saw Nelliel frown. "I know of the Resurecciòn abilities of the Espada and the Fracciònes. No one has that power."

"Everyone? Even the new Arrancar who you haven't seen release?"

"They couldn't have released. Captain Zaraki's and Lady Unohana's spiritual pressure was too—" He saw something flicker in Nelliel's eyes. "Cirucci was able to release."

He could almost see the wheel's spinning in the Primera Espada's head. Then Nelliel snorted. "See, Nnoitra? Talking can actually be quite positive."

He just scowled in response. He didn't need this creature's damning faint praise.

"In any case, we're going to be monitoring the new Arrancar more closely," Nelliel said. "We can't have unaccounted-for variables in this equation. Furthermore, we'll have to notify Lady Unohana about—"

He almost ripped _Santa Teresa_ from his back and took a chunk out of the hallway after someone starting whistling behind him.

He whirled around to find the new Vasto Lorde Arrancar—Wonderweiss—strolling past him and Nelliel. The blond Hollow gave them a smile—one that wasn't completely friendly—and continued on.

"All manner of interesting topics to discuss today," Wonderweiss said blandly after he had passed them. "Must be the excellent weather."

The Vasto Lorde sauntered on down the hallway until he turned a corner and disappeared from view.

He hadn't sensed Wonderweiss' reishi, or heard him, up until the blond Hollow had started making noise. Judging from the brief look of shock in Nelliel's eyes, the other Espada hadn't, either.

"Something about that one doesn't sit right with me," Nelliel murmured.

He stared at where Wonderweiss had exited, then barked a humorless laugh. "And I thought I was supposed to be the suspicious one."

* * *

"Sir? Captain? Captain Aizen?"

Sosuke almost wanted to roll over and order the owner of the voice to go jump into a pond, but that would be behavior very unbecoming of an officer. He cracked his eyes open.

Oh. Momo. But fuzzy.

"Yes, Lieutenant?" he said, suppressing the urge to yawn. He sat up in the hospital cot, reaching for his glasses on the dresser next to him. He slid them on, whereupon Momo acquired a much less fuzzy outline.

"Sir, I have the compiled report of the battle." His lieutenant handed a stack of papers to him. "You wanted them as soon as they were available."

He accepted the hardcopies, then blinked. It seemed quite bright in here. He glanced out the window, then at the clock. It was near ten o'clock. Hmm. Even with the chaos from last night, the report should have been ready for his perusal several hours ago.

He glanced at the young woman.

"Oh, well, Captain, while I was on my way here, I suddenly remembered I had several critical administrative duties to attend to. Signing things, and such." He heard Momo clear her throat. "Excuse my tardiness."

He almost chuckled at that. He had taken some serious injuries during the clash last night, most of them with his desperate duel against Unohana. Lieutenant Kotetsu had politely requested—well, ordered—him to stay overnight for observation. Apparently, ten o'clock also counted as overnight.

Hmm. Perhaps Momo's doing as well.

"You could have—_should_ have—sent a runner. It's not a lieutenant's duty to ferry papers to her captain."

He saw Momo's lips press together at the mild rebuke. "Yes, sir. However, I had all of the Squad Five couriers sending and receiving messages from other squads, and the Reversal Counter Force agents were similarly overloaded, as well. With everything already organized back at headquarters, I made the decision to deliver the papers in person. And to check up on your health, Captain."

Hmm. He could have sworn that a month ago Momo wouldn't have violated an order—non-critical as it was, granted—much less _explain_ why she had done so.

Huh. You'd think letting your captain have a few more hours of sleep wouldn't be this big of a deal.

"Very well, Momo. But, please, next time, I can catch extra sleep later, like after I get to the important things."

The younger Soul Reaper nodded to acknowledge the reprimand. "Yes, sir."

Repressing a smile, he began to read the report.

Damn.

Squad Seven was, for all intents and purposes, wiped out. Captain Komamura and Lieutenant Iba were both confirmed killed, and over seventy-five percent—a grossly unheard-of number—of the troopers had been outright killed. Of the remainder, half of them would be laid up for weeks while undergoing serious medical treatment, and the remainder of that were all junior troopers with little experience. They had been reassigned to other squads for the time being.

He had a feeling that those postings would be permanent. They simply didn't have enough bodies to rebuild Squad Ten.

The other squads that had participated in the battle had also taken some serious losses—five to ten percent—with similar injury figures. Captain Zaraki had been particularly heavily injured, while Captain Kuchiki had been hurt to a similar degree as himself. He noted that Rukia Kuchiki's name was on the causality list. That was going to play hell with Captain Kuchiki and Lieutenant Abarai, and, by extension, Squad Six's morale.

He also noticed a rather distinct omission of the Thirteen Court Guard Squads' mental state. He sighed, flipping a page.

Well, that was lucky. Kurotsuchi had, in end, been unable to deploy his production-grade reishi dampeners. Their efficacy would not be able to be gauged by the Arrancar forces, and Unohana would have to devise strategies not predicated on counters to the machines. Hopefully, that would be another headache for the rogue captains.

Next section.

Hmm. The battle hadn't been one-sided. Two Espadas had been confirmed slain, and a lieutenant-level Arrancar had also been eliminated in the fierce urban fighting back in the Rukongai. Many of the Hollows killed in the battle had been those skull-faced clones, but a fair number hadn't. The exchange rate, body for body, still favored Unohana's forces. However, considering that Arrancar were rarer and stronger than the average Seireitei soldier, it was just about even.

He grimaced. What a terrible way to think.

He started to move on to the next section when there was a knock on the door. Abruptly, Momo spun in place and hurried over. His lieutenant cautiously opened it, revealing Gin and Kaname. The two men weren't wearing their haoris.

"Gin, Kaname," he greeted.

"Captain Ichimaru, Captain Tosen," he heard Momo say.

"Captain Aizen," the two other captains responded.

Momo stepped aside and let his two friends enter the hospital room.

"Well, you look a lot better than I thought you would," Gin said.

He chuckled. "I'm not quite sure how to respond to that."

"A thank you could work," the Squad Three captain said. "Well. With that said, I think I should perhaps apologize for that remark. Your lieutenant is giving me quite the evil eye."

He shifted his gaze over to Momo, who blinked rapidly a few times before flushing.

"Lieutenant Hinamori, thank you for bringing me the abstract and for checking on me. Please return to headquarters and make sure everything is running smoothly. Ensure any urgent messages are immediately relayed to me."

"Yes, Captain Aizen," Momo said immediately, bowing slightly before leaving the room. He watched his lieutenant go.

Then he noticed Gin looking at him. Then the Squad Three captain looked in the direction of the doorway for a few moments, then back at him.

"You know, Captain Aizen, I really have to ask—"

"Don't," he said, maybe a little more roughly than he liked. "I might look better than you thought I would, but I don't feel quite one hundred percent. Might make a man grumpy." He paused a beat, then said. "But if you really must know, the answer is 'no, not ever.' "

Gin snorted and gave a theatric shrug. "Ever, ever?"

He gave the Squad Three captain a look, but it rolled off Gin like it was nothing.

He regarded the two other captains for a moment. "So," he said, "what brings you two here?"

"Well, Captain," Gin said in the humorous tone that was part and parcel of the man known as Gin Ichimaru, "I was wondering how you looked. Now what we know that you're better than I expected, but not quite at the usual Aizen-level, I think we can leave. Right, Kaname?"

The Squad Nine Captain minutely jerked his head in Gin's direction.

"I want to ask you something, Captain," Kaname said in a quiet voice.

"Kaname," he heard Gin say in a warning tone, humor gone from his voice, "I think there's a better time to ask—"

"No, there isn't, Gin," the other captain broke in. "I need to know, _now_."

Gin looked uncomfortable with that, but not surprised. The two of them must have discussed this on the way here. And while he was not quite sure what Kaname wanted to discuss, he could make an educated guess.

"It's all right, Gin. Thanks to a certain lieutenant, I've gotten plenty of rest. I can hear Kaname out."

He heard the Squad Three captain sigh, and move back slightly. Kaname moved forward a bit.

"Thank you Captain."

He nodded, waiting.

The Squad Seven captain took a deep breath, and he could see the other man composing himself. Then, "Captain Aizen, do you agree with how Head Captain Yamamoto is handling this war?"

He didn't answer immediately. He, of course, did not believe Yamamoto was running the campaign correctly, both tactically and on a broader political level. He also knew that if he admitted that, Gin and Kaname would back him to the hilt. At least... he thought so. Sajin Komamura had been one of Kaname's closest friends.

"I follow my orders from the Head Captain, same as you should," he said neutrally.

"That isn't an answer to my question," Kaname said after a moment.

"That's because no matter what reservations I might or might not have about Captain Yamamoto, they are irrelevant. I do what I am ordered to do."

Again Kaname spoke after a brief pause. "Yet during the captains' meeting you always advocate the less risky, less aggressive plans of action."

He kept his brows from furrowing. "Again, Kaname, I have my reasons. Caution is never ill-advised."

"Then you will see this through the end."

Immediately, he was going to say that, yes, he would do everything in his power to raze Hueco Mundo to the ground. Yet something inside him did not want to lie, not to Kaname or to Gin. He had done enough lying as of late, whether it was telling a mistruth or a lie by omission.

He could, of course, tell the other two captains what he was planning, but he wasn't ready to ask anything of them yet.

"I will do what I can to protect the Soul Society," he said obliquely. "If it requires caution, then so be it."

He heard a quiet popping noise. Cocking his head, he glanced down at Kaname's hands. The other captain's hands were balled up so tightly that they were shaking. When Kaname spoke, the other Soul Reaper's voice was also quivering.

"Know this, Captain Aizen. A good man, a good _friend_, died last night. His death will not be forgotten, nor will it be forgiven. I can kill a hundred Espadas, and even then their lives will not be worth a fraction of his."

He suddenly remembered that the report had been completely devoid on the _how_ and _who_ details of the Espadas' deaths.

"His death demands justice, Captain Aizen," Kaname continued, seething. Please do not make me choose between you and Sajin. I have lost a good friend already. Get well soon."

With that Kaname abruptly turned on his heels and stalked out of the hospital room.

Gin stared out the door for a few moments before looking back.

"You know, I'm terribly sorry about that."

"Don't be," he said softly, laying back and settling back into his pillow. He had a fleeting memory of his two mentors. "Losing someone you trusted can do that to you."

"Still," he heard Gin say, "I'll talk with him, when he's cooled off a bit. You and I both know that once Kaname gets stuck on something, he won't leave it well enough alone until he's done. Hopefully I can dissuade him before he gets his teeth sunk in."

The other captain turned to leave, but hesitated. "Although, Captain Aizen, I do have to wonder what you're planning. You know Kaname and I will have your back, whatever it is. Well, disregarding his grief-fueled snappiness and blindness. And I only mention his blindness because I can't make it through a day without making a joke about it at least five times."

He snorted, then met Gin's eyes. "I'll tell you once I know myself, Gin."

Gin chewed on that for a few seconds before nodding and departing.

He sank his head deeper into his pillow. This whole thing was so... troublesome. He hadn't formulated enough of a plan to bring Gin and Kaname into it with good conscience. And, of course, he wasn't ever—ever, ever—going to involve his lieutenant in this.

Not being able to share things like this sure could make a man lonely.

He sighed. He'd get over it. He had to.

* * *

"Tell me this isn't real," Yoruichi whispered.

Kisuke shook his head grimly. "I wish I could. Well, I guess I could lie to you, if that makes you feel any better."

She snorted, shaking her head as she put the report down. It was nearing midnight already, and the reports still streaming in from Kisuke's intelligence contacts were still being constantly updated.

The Soul Society had taken a beating, both among the Soul Reapers and among the Wholes who had lived in the assaulted areas. Information was still trickling in, but at least the battle hadn't been one-sided. Some of the Espadas weren't going to be a problem for anyone ever again.

But that begged the question: what now?

She'd been following on the general political climate in the Seireitei. Unless she and Kisuke were completely off the mark, Sosuke Aizen had been advocating a more cautious strategy, for unknown reasons. Now, with this bloody clash, she a feeling that whatever Aizen had been hoping was now going down the toilet.

Her train of thought was interrupted as Tessai popped his head into Kisuke's office.

"Yes, Tessai?"

"Another message from our contacts in the Soul Society, boss. Doesn't look good." The former commander handed Kisuke a sheet of paper.

"Thank you Tessai," she heard her friend say. Tessai nodded and ducked back out.

"What've we got?" she asked a few minutes after Kisuke had gone through the report.

The shop owner didn't answer, just kept on reading. She noticed that the other Soul Reaper's lips had drawn together into a thin, bloodless line. That wasn't like Kisuke, not at all.

A moment later Kisuke wordlessly handed the sheet to her. She accepted it and began to read it herself. Hmm. It was an updated list of casualties—deaths, to be specific.

One name jumped out at her.

"Rukia Kuchiki?" she said incredulously.

Kisuke just nodded.

"How did that happen?" she wondered, tossing the paper onto the desk. "I thought little Byakuya was keeping his sister far from any fighting."

"Wrong place, wrong time, I guess. Things like that happen in war."

She looked away. She hadn't really known Rukia too well—she'd known Byakuya far better—but she did know Byakuya cared very much for the girl, and Kisuke had had a good professional relationship with Rukia. And she wasn't quite sure what was—had been—going on between Ichigo and the Kuchiki girl, but...

Oh.

"Does Hirako's crew know yet?" she asked.

Kisuke shook his head. "No, not yet. And I'm considering holding off on telling them for as long as I can."

She raised an eyebrow in question.

"Ichigo's still there, still trying to refine his Hollow's mask. Last we spoke, Hirako told me he's made a lot of headway on controlling his inner Hollow, but still isn't at a level Hirako's comfortable with."

"Meaning he's not ready to slam his head against Las Noches," she said.

Kisuke nodded. "And if I pass along this information, Ichigo's going to hear it, eventually." Her pal looked her in the eyes. "You remember what happened when he found out that Orihime Inoue had been captured. He tried to make a beeline for Hueco Mundo, control over his Hollow be damned."

"And if he heard about this, he's going to go berserk."

"Yeah, I think that's putting it lightly." She saw Kisuke take on a faraway look, thinking. "His spiritual pressure tends to fluctuate a lot, but I've noticed it tends to stabilize when his emotions are running high."

She pushed off the wall she had been leaning against. "No, Kisuke," she said sharply, placing her hands on the desk.

The man cocked his head at her.

"Don't tell him, then let him have a crack at Hueco Mundo. Even _if_ his powers run consistently strong, that anger is going to cloud his judgment. He'll make mistakes. And... it's cruel. He's a kid, not a weapon."

Kisuke slumped in his chair. She stepped back and rested her back against one of the filing cabinets. "Yeah, I know. And I'm still considering it, God help me." Her friend gave a mirthless chuckle. "You took his side pretty quickly."

"He's sixteen years old, Kisuke," she said softly. "And he's been through almost as much crap as you and I have. He deserves better from us."

Her friend leaned back in his chair. "Yeah, I guess that's true. Although..." Kisuke suddenly leered at her. "From what I understand, Ichigo's getting better treatment than I did. You didn't flash me when _I_ was learning bankai."

She arched an eyebrow. "That's because the kid's better behaved than you. Ichigo looked away like a gentleman. You would have ogled, probably fired up a camera you had hidden somewhere."

Her friend looked her straight in the eyes, mock alarm plastered across his face. "Funny you should mention that."

She narrowed her eyes and tried her best to look annoyed. "Please tell me you didn't."

"Did you ever hear that one song? The one performed by that American puppet troupe? Something about the internet and porn?"

She felt her jaw drop. "Kisuke..." she said in a warning tone.

The man waved his hands at her in a disarming manner. "Don't do anything rash, now. If my attorney doesn't hear from me every twenty-four hours, those videos go live."

She stared at Kisuke. Her friend met her eyes. Then they both burst out laughing. But damn, she was giggling so hard she felt tears in her eyes. In her peripheral vision, she saw Tessai, Jinta and Ururu stick their heads into the room. It looked like Jinta grumbled something before stomping off. Tessai and Ururu followed a second later. Somehow, that tableau got her laughing harder.

When they finally got themselves under control, her eyes drifted back to the paper on Kisuke's desk.

That sobered her up right quick. There were so many names on that butcher's bill.

It had been good to laugh like that, really. She had a feeling laughter would be in real short supply in the near future. She was betting the battle would only serve to galvanize Yamamoto to more aggressive action. It was how the Head Captain ticked. And, if that happened, Unohana was going to shoot right back.

What happened yesterday was going to look like a pillow fight.

And she knew that she wouldn't be able to just sit back, either. Sure, the Seireitei was run by a bunch of jerks, but it was still her home. Kisuke's and Tessai's too. They'd find a way to jump back into the fighting. To top it off, it also seemed that the Visoreds were in on it, too.

Normally, she—and Kisuke, for that matter—tried to put on confident, devil-may-care appearance when stuff went down. Heck, sometimes it was true. She was certain of her abilities and she knew what her limits were. She picked her fights, made sure she had an actual chance of actually winning them. But every once and a while, she had found herself in a situation that had frightened her, where she didn't know where a fight could lead.

Sajin Komamura was—had been—a powerful, experienced captain. Lieutenant Iba likewise was no pushover. Rukia Kuchiki was supposed to have been far, far from any manner of combat.

And they were dead.

She shivered a bit.

"Yoruichi," she heard her pal say gently, all bantering absent from his voice. "You all right?"

She looked over at Kisuke. "Marginal. Doesn't matter. I'm going to do what I have to do."

Kisuke grinned. "Just like old times, huh?"

"You betcha." She brushed a strand of hair out of her face. "So, what's your game plan?"

"Well, definitely going to get word to Isshin and Ryuken, though I'd be shocked if they haven't already found out through their own contacts. A few others after them. I'll decide on whether or not we notify the Visoreds after I talk to Papa Kurosaki. We're also going to have plan out some covert entrances into the Soul Society if it comes to it. I'm pretty sure Yamamoto is going to ignore our arrest warrants—or the death warrants in the Visoreds' case—but better safe than sorry."

"Booked schedule, huh, Kisuke?"

"You know I love my work."

She snorted. "Yeah. Better get my beauty sleep, then."

"No catnaps?"

She cocked an eyebrow at Kisuke. "Okay, that was terrible, even for you."

"Whups." Her friend chuckled. "Night, then, Yoruichi."

"Yep." She had one foot out the door when she stopped. Almost without thinking about it, she again glanced at the paper on Kisuke's desk that catalogued the many dead Soul Reapers. So many, just in the space of a few hours.

Kisuke was staring at it, too.

She trembled again.

"Kisuke," she said.

The other former captain looked up. "Mmm?"

"You never did get the heating system working in my room."

"Ah. Sorry."

She took a breath. "It gets real cold in there."

She left before her friend could reply. She returned to her room and felt herself stripping off her clothes in preparation to burrowing into her bed. Really, why had she said that? They had enough to think about. Sure, they had never been romantically involved, per se, but even that bit of... intimate contact still qualified as a major distraction.

Of course, it wasn't often that something rattled her this bad, scared her. Komamura, Iba, Kuchiki. Anyone could die. Anyone included her and Kisuke.

She heard her door slide open. Twisting her head, she caught sight of Kisuke framed in the doorway. Her friend's eyes were serious.

"Like old times, huh?"

She grinned. "There better not be any cameras."

Her friend grinned himself. "Who do you think I am?"

Kisuke slid the door closed.

* * *

**Author's Notes updated**


End file.
